Russians told 'hour of reckoning has come' as TV sabotage exposes country's brutal losses

OLI SMITH

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A pro-Ukranian group is thought to be behind a major hack of Russian state television this week. The hack meant that millions of ordinary Russians watched a Ukraine defence ministry video as they tuned into their usual TV programmes. The infiltration exposed the reality of the war in Ukraine, as the hack broadcast footage of attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russian troops.

The warzone clips also showed Ukrainian forces advancing on the battlefield.

This was then followed with a message in Ukrainian, accompanied by the crest of its defence ministry, warning: "The hour of reckoning has come."

Following the Ukrainian military footage, ballet clips of Swan Lake appeared on the screen.

This appears to be a historical Russian reference, as Swan Lake was played on a loop after the deaths of Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko.

The hack meant that millions of ordinary Russians watched a Ukraine defence ministry video (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

It was also broadcast on state television again during the attempted overthrow of Mikhail Gorbachev, which hastened the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

The sabotage hit mainstream state TV channels in multiple time zones across the Urals and Siberia.

Channel One, the biggest television station in Russia, as well as Zvezda, which is owned by the Russian defence ministry, were both affected.

Ren TV, a channel run by President Vladimir Putin’s long-rumoured lover Alina Kabaeva, was also hacked.

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The footage followed with a message in Ukrainian, accompanied by the crest of its defence ministry (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

This is not the first state television hack to hit Russia during the war in Ukraine.

A previous hack in June hit Krasnoyarsk and Tyumen regions in Siberia, plus Kursk and Kaliningrad in western Russia.

This sabotage saw television channels broadcast an 'emergency' broadcast from a 'deepfake' President Putin.

In the fake message, the tyrant appeared to impose martial law across the regions - while declaring a full-scale mass mobilisation in response to an "incursion" from Ukrainian forces.

Meanwhile, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign affairs minister, has warned today that US and NATO satellites are creating risks of a “direct armed clash with Russia”.

Lavrov also warned of the potential 'catastrophic consequences' of direct conflict (Image: GETTY)

Mr Lavrov also warned of the potential “catastrophic consequences” of direct conflict.

On Thursday, the US Pentagon suggested that Wagner mercenaries are no longer participating in “any significant capacity” in combat operations in Ukraine.

This comes more than two weeks after the group’s botched mutiny in Russia.

Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said: “At this stage, we do not see Wagner forces participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine.”