Russia's Aeroflot cancels flights after pro-Ukrainian hackers claim massive cyberattack
The Kremlin said the situation was worrying and prosecutors confirmed the disruption was the result of a hack and opened a criminal investigation. Senior lawmaker Anton Gorelkin said that Russia was under digital attack.
"We must not forget that the war against our country is being waged on all fronts, including the digital one. And I do not rule out that the 'hacktivists' who claimed responsibility for the incident are in the service of unfriendly states," Gorelkin said in a statement.
Aeroflot did not say how long the problems would take to resolve, but departure boards at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays.
A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation together with a Belarusian group called Cyberpartisans BY, and linked it to the war in Ukraine.
"Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!" said the statement, whose authenticity Reuters could not immediately verify.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
4 hours ago
- The Citizen
24 hours in pictures, 1 August 2025
24 hours in pictures, 1 August 2025 Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world. Congress activists burn an effigy of US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they protest against the Indo-US trade deal, after the former imposed 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods, during a demonstration in Kolkata on August 1, 2025. President Trump labelled Russia and US ally India 'dead economies,' indicating that his threat to ramp up tariffs on New Delhi will now go ahead. India will face 25 percent tariffs while also announcing an unspecified 'penalty' over New Delhi's purchases of Russian weapons and energy. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP) Participants attend the launch of Ghana's Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act at the Accra International Conference Centre, in Accra, Ghana, 31 July 2025. 31 July marks the official launch of Ghana's Affirmative Action Act which was passed a year ago by Ghana's Parliament. Ghana's Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act, 2024, mandates a minimum of 30 percent women's representation across public institutions, increasing to 50 percent by 2030. It also introduces penalties for non-compliance, tax incentives for private sector adherence, and applies to political parties, trade unions, the judiciary, and public agencies. Picture: EPA/FRANK KPORFOR Cowboy boots are seen at the Rio of Mercedes cowboy boot factory, on July 31, 2025, in Mercedes, Texas. In an unusual consequence of Donald Trump's tariffs, cowboy boots 'made in the USA' will suffer from the 30% tariff due to come into force on August 1 targeting South Africa, which produces the overwhelming majority of the ostrich leather so prized for these boots. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (L-R) Silver medallist South Africa's swimmer Pieter Coetze, gold medallist Hungary's swimmer Hubert Kos and bronze medallist France's swimmer Yohann Ndoye-Brouard celebrate on the podium of the men's 200m backstroke swimming event during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on August 1, 2025. (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP) This handout photo taken over Gaza and released on August 1, 2025 by the Spanish Ministry of Defence shows the release of humanitarian aid from a Spanish Air Force Airbus A400M Atlas airplane over Gaza. (Photo by HANDOUT / Spain Defence Ministry / AFP) Festival-goers attend the first day of the Pol'and'Rock Festival in Czaplinek, north-western Poland, 31 July 2025. The festival will run until 02 August. Picture: EPA/JERZY MUSZYNSKI A fisherman smokes a beedi, a hand-rolled cigarette, as he rests inside his boat on the banks of the Yamuna River in New Delhi on August 1, 2025. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP) Hot air balloons are prepared to participate during the celebration of the XXV International Hot Air Balloon Regatta 'Haro, capital of Rioja' and the XLI Spanish Aerostation Championship, in Haro, La Rioja, Spain, 31 July 2025. The events take place from 30 July to 03 August. Picture: EPA/RAQUEL MANZANARES Members of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people from north-eastern Arnhem Land perform the Bunggul traditional dance during the 25th annual Garma Festival in Gulkula, Northern Territory, Australia, 01 August 2025. Garma Festival, Australia's most significant Indigenous cultural gathering, is held each year on Yolu Country in northeast Arnhem Land, uniting ceremony, community, and national dialogue as it celebrates a significant 25-year milestone in 2025. Picture: EPA/JAMES ROSS Soldiers of the Croatian Armed Forces take part in a military parade in Zagreb, Croatia, 31 July 2025. Croatia marked the 30th anniversary of Operation Storm, the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence in August 1995, with a military parade featuring more than 3,500 soldiers and several hundred military vehicles. Picture: EPA/ANTONIO BAT A cosplayer in the character of Zhuge Liang of a video game poses during ChinaJoy, known as China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai on August 1, 2025. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) MORE: 24 hours in pictures, 31 July 2025
The Citizen
7 hours ago
- The Citizen
DR Congo and Rwanda hold first talks after peace deal
DRC and Rwanda have met for the first time since signing a peace deal aimed at ending decades of deadly conflict. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have held their first talks after signing a peace deal to end decades of deadly conflict in mineral-rich eastern Congo, the two countries said on Friday. Eastern DRC, a region bordering Rwanda with lucrative natural resources, has been plagued by violence for more than three decades and the unrest has claimed thousands of lives. The crisis intensified early this year when the M23 armed group and Rwandan troops captured the major city of Goma in January, followed by Bukavu in February, setting up parallel administrations in each. Kinshasa had previously opposed direct dialogue with the M23 and diplomatic attempts, including mediation by Angola, failed. But the surprise intervention of Qatar succeeded in bringing together Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame of Rwanda in Doha in mid-March. ALSO READ: Rethinking conflict on the African battlefield A peace agreement followed, inked by their foreign ministers in Washington at the end of June. On Thursday, representatives from both countries as well as observers from the United States, Qatar and the African Union held their first meeting in Washington since signing the peace deal, according to a joint statement released by both nations on social media. They 'discussed progress on implementing the agreement' among other things, it said. The agreement was hailed as a significant milestone by the African Union and the United Nations and follows a long series of truces and ceasefires that have been systematically broken. The deal outlines provisions for the 'respect for territorial integrity and halting hostilities' in eastern DRC, which are still however to be implemented. ALSO READ: WATCH: Second group of SANDF troops return to SA, more to arrive on Monday It also includes economic measures but has few details. According to the Congolese government and the UN, the violence has left thousands dead and exacerbated a humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Since February, the front has stabilised. But violence continued between the M23 and a motley group of pro-Kinshasa militias engaged in guerrilla warfare. In a parallel Qatar-led process, the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group and Kinshasa also signed a declaration of principles in Qatar earlier this month, including a commitment to a permanent ceasefire. Rwanda denies providing military support to the M23 but says its security has long been threatened by armed groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. ALSO READ: Here's when the next group of SANDF troops may return to SA The DRC is the world's leading producer of cobalt and has deposits of gold and other valuable minerals including coltan, a metallic ore that is vital in making phones and laptops. Access to minerals Tshisekedi said in April he had discussed a deal for access to the DRC's mineral wealth with US special envoy Massad Boulos. On July 17, the DRC government signed an agreement with US group Kobold Metals, which committed to investing in the digitisation of geological data and the development of a lithium mine in southeast DRC. The Congolese president then resolved to hold direct talks with the M23, having previously refused to do so, leading to the Doha agreement. That agreement saw the government and M23 commit to a 'permanent ceasefire' and 'dialogue and negotiation' to facilitate the 'voluntary' return of refugees and displaced people. ALSO READ: SANDF troops return home from DRC after delay from logistical snag Kinshasa and the M23 gave themselves until July 29 to implement the declaration, with the deal setting an August 8 deadline for formal negotiations on a comprehensive peace accord, to be signed by August 17. Analysts view the deadlines as tight, especialy as differences quickly emerged including over the issue of a withdrawal by the M23 from areas it has seized. – By: © Agence France-Presse
IOL News
10 hours ago
- IOL News
Russia-Ukrainian Conflict: 'Give me liberty or give me death'
Rescuers work at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital, which was damaged during a Russian missile strike, in Kyiv, Ukraine in July, 2024. What we are witnessing in Ukraine is not only one of Russia's 'final pushes', but the realisation of Vladimir Lenin's prophecy. Image: Gleb Garanich/Reuters HISTORY, as CV Wedgwood observed, is written backwards but lived forwards. In the fog of war, the path ahead is obscured by ambiguity and risk. Kierkegaard put it well: 'We can only understand life backwards, but life must be lived forwards.' This lens helps make sense of the Russia-Ukraine war — not as a sudden crisis, but as the unfolding of long-standing ideological and geopolitical currents. In 1921, Lenin presciently wrote that Western capitalists would willingly supply the Soviet Union with the technology and credit it needed to eventually overthrow them. 'They will work hard,' he said, 'in order to prepare their own suicide.' This vision was not mere rhetoric. OC Boileau argued in 1976 that Soviet leaders saw themselves not just as national rulers, but as stewards of a revolutionary mission — the inevitable triumph of communism over the West. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, after fleeing to America, echoed this warning in his 1978 Harvard speech: 'The West is on the verge of a collapse created by its own hands.' He observed a weakening of Western resolve and warned that the Soviet economy was so entrenched in militarisation that even if its leaders wanted peace, they could no longer stop the machine. 'The degeneration of America is underway,' he said, 'and off there in the wings, the military power is being prepared to apply the final push.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ What we are witnessing in Ukraine is not only one of Russia's 'final pushes', but the realisation of Vladimir Lenin's prophecy. Jim Courter, in *Step by Step: The Soviet Bloc's Global Challenge to Democracy*, reminds us that a larger story underpins the current crisis — one of territorial expansion and the consolidation of political, economic, and military power. Guided by proletarian internationalism, the Soviet bloc has long aimed at the destruction of the 'Free World' — the great democracies. Courter does not claim the Soviets want war, but insists it would be naive to assume they desire peace. The evidence is clear: the Soviet Union ceaselessly prepared for war, and those designs continue wherever opportunity allows. When Americans spent 40% of their defence budget on personnel, the Soviets invested in weapons. As Robert McFarlane noted, the USSR produced twice as many fighter aircraft as the US and NATO combined, four times as many helicopters, and 50 times as many bombers. The armoured battalions now rolling into Ukraine are not new, they are the legacy of a system that never stopped building. In his Crimean annexation speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Crimea is saturated with shared history and pride, that St Vladimir's baptism in Chersonese laid the spiritual foundation for a common civilisation linking Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. 'We are not just close neighbours,' he said, 'we are actually the same nation. Kyiv is the mother of Russian cities. Ancient Rus is our common origin; we cannot live without each other.' This deep historical bond explains Russia's sensitivity to Ukraine and its inevitable involvement. Samuel Charap and Keith Darden cite Samuel Huntington's *Clash of Civilisations*, which argues that nations need enemies for self-definition. While discredited, Huntington's thesis gains credibility in Ukraine. After more than 30 years of the West treating Russia as an adversary, Moscow may have truly become one. Putin's private remark to George W Bush — questioning whether Ukraine was a real country — reveals a dismissive attitude. Yet, as Charap and Darden note, until the collapse of the EU-brokered settlement on February 21, 2014, Russia's role did not warrant labels like 'aggressive' or 'expansionist'. Until then, blaming Russia for Ukraine's crisis was unjust. The Russia-Ukraine war marks the second major confrontation with NATO. In 2008, Russia occupied Georgia, a NATO aspirant, and recognised breakaway regions. In 2013, it repeated the pattern with Ukraine, annexing Crimea and backing separatists. The West rightly condemned these actions. Yet, as Safak Oguz argues, NATO's weak response to the 2008 Georgia war failed to deter future aggression. Its posture lacked the strength to prevent Russia from challenging the West again. The UN's inability to mediate was summed up by Boutros Boutros-Ghali: 'The whole philosophy is to avoid military force. If we have used force, we have failed.' When asked how to respond to a voracious fighting force, he replied: 'Our philosophy is based on talk — negotiate — and then talk again.' To move to force, he said, is 'like someone doing therapy who suddenly decides to do brain surgery'. This aversion renders the UN — and similar bodies — 'toothless dogs', a flaw mirrored in the OAU's non-interference clause that enabled coups across Africa. Lee H Hamilton noted six shifts after the Cold War: the end of the communist challenge, Soviet instability, fragile new democracies, the rise of Western Europe and Japan, Middle East instability, and emerging transnational threats. The Warsaw Pact dissolved in 1991, ending the threat of Soviet invasion. Yet thousands of nuclear weapons still pointed west. The danger faded — but did not vanish. Many believe negotiations will end the war. But history cautions against blind trust. Fred Ikle once said, 'Negotiating with the Russians is tough. They tend to press for higher numbers.' Boutros-Ghali's mantra — 'talk, negotiate, talk again' — offers little hope. The prospect of peace through such diplomacy is bleak. Rather than suffer under authoritarianism, Ukrainians echo Patrick Henry: 'Give me liberty or give me death.' The wealth of the modern world is created in free nations. The Soviets come to the West for food, not because they lack resources, but because their leaders choose arms over agriculture. One gets the impression that Soviet, and now Russian, leaders would rather their people starve than risk the 'contamination' of freedom. Plato said: 'Only the dead have seen the end of war.' Rosenberg, a poet who died at 28 on the Western Front, mourned a world where: 'Red fangs have torn His face. God's blood is shed.' He longed for the world to regain its 'pristine bloom'. For those in Ukraine, Palestine, and Syria, every day is a battle. Only death brings peace. If Ukrainian freedom is to survive, negotiations must not compromise liberty. As Jesse Helms argued, only the free world has the creativity to adapt. Each free citizen holds a power no oppressive state can match — the power to shape their own life. True security lies not in control, but in freedom. As JFK said: 'We must never negotiate out of fear, but we must never fear to negotiate.' Weinberger warned that concession after concession leads to empty agreements. Reinhold Niebuhr cautioned that democratic failure often comes from idealists facing ruthless realities with too many illusions. The real conflict is not between Russia and Ukraine, but between Russia and the United States. What we see is either the resurgence or continuation of the Cold War. There was no official end — only an assumption, fueled by Reagan's 1987 meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev. When asked how long the conflict would last, Reagan said: 'Oh, that's a thing of the past. They no longer believe in one-world Marxian domination.' But do they? Could nations like Ukraine, Georgia, and Hungary have turned to NATO not just for security, but for survival? Russia feeds its military, not its people. Dmitry Medvedev once told Crimeans: 'There is no money, but you be strong.' Hunger-fueled revolutions in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. Today, Russians queue for bread while trains haul armoured battalions to Ukraine. As a song says: 'There are more questions than answers.' But this is clear: NATO's Supreme Allied Commander stated, 'What is happening in eastern Ukraine is a military operation… carried out at the direction of Russia.' And so we return to Lenin's warning: 'They will supply us with the materials and technology which we need for our future victorious attacks upon our suppliers. In other words, they will work hard in order to prepare their own suicide.' Let Ukraine decide: bow to pressure, or rise with Henry's cry? 'Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!' * Dr Vusi Shongwe works in the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture in KwaZulu-Natal and writes in his personal capacity. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
