Russia-Controlled 'Radio Crimea' Was Hacked, Ukraine Anthem Played On Air: Report

A radio station in Russian-occupied Crimea played Ukraine's national anthem during a compromised broadcast, according to reports.

Hackers attacked the online broadcasting of Radio Crimea at around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ilya Izotov, the station's editor-in-chief, told Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

Izotov did not reveal who was responsible for the hack, but he noted that the station's broadcast "was interrupted by the anthem of a neighboring country, interspersed with obscene language."

The national anthem of Ukraine was played on the radio, Pravda reported, citing anonymous channels on the online messaging service Telegram.

A video shared by the Ukrainian outlet showed what appeared to be Radio Crimea's online broadcast playing a rendition of "The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished," officially known as the "State Anthem of Ukraine," that was performed by Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Ponomariov.

Tuesday's hack on Radio Crimea reportedly happened in the process area outside of the radio station.

"The problem affected only the Internet segment and transmitters that broadcast a signal from a satellite in some municipalities," Radio Crimea said in a statement.

Broadcasting via satellite has been turned off, and specialists are now working to restore its operation, according to Izotov.

However, Radio Crimea's on-air broadcasting through ordinary transmitters continues as usual, he noted.

Attacks on the websites of Crimean television channels and radio stations have been occurring for the past two weeks, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the head of the Russian occupation government in Crimea, said in a statement posted on Telegram.

An incident similar to the attack on Radio Crimea happened on June 8 when hackers took control of the radio broadcast of the Russian newspaper Kommersant, disrupting a news bulletin as well as playing Ukrainian and anti-war songs.

During the compromised broadcast, hackers played Ukraine's national anthem, the Ukrainian patriotic march "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" and the song "We Don't Need War" that was released by Russian rock band Nogu Svelo! earlier this year, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Kommersant is owned by Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek-born Russian businessman who was labeled by the Official Journal of the European Union, the organization's official record publication, as a "pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin" and is "one of Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs."