A most official jingle and tone to announce a “invasion” which started at 4am. “Ukrainian troops, with the agreement and support of Washington, have invested the regions of Kursk, Belgorod, Briansk” says this voice that sounds like Vladimir Putin’s. Listeners to Russian local radio and television channels experienced a moment of panic on Monday (June 5th) when their programs were interrupted by a false message from Vladimir Putin declaring that Russia was invaded in parts.
>> War in Ukraine: the Ukrainian army is carrying out “offensive actions” on the front, follow our live
“Martial law is established, general mobilization will follow”, this voice continues, asking for a calm evacuation. The phrasing, the rhythm are modeled on those usually used by the head of the Kremlin. It was a hack, with the voice of a Russian president larger than life.
The reference to “Ukrainian Nazis” is also present. Everything is done to trigger panic among the civilian populations, while incursions and bombings have multiplied for two weeks in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. And that Russia assured on Monday that it had repelled a “large-scale offensive” in the Donbass. In any case, this is how the Russian authorities present the thing, on the Telegram account of a specially created crisis cell. A sign of the importance attached to this program interruption, it is the Kremlin spokesman himself who is trying to clear the mines. “It’s a hack, we are aware”, assures Dimitri Peskov.
The audiovisual group Mir, in a message relayed by the Tass agency, recognizes “the substitution of the content of the news programs of the Mir TV channel and the Mir radio” between “12:41 p.m. to 1:18 p.m.”. And he calls “absolute false” and of “provocation” messages broadcast with a banner “President’s Emergency Call”. Tass reports other hacks, notably in the Republic of Crimea and in the regions of Voronezh, Rostov or Belgorod.