Ukraine’s IT Army has hacked Russia’s Leonardo airline booking system, causing major disruptions at the country’s largest airports, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformations Mykhailo Fedorov said on 5 October.
In a Telegram post, Fedorov said if Ukrainian airports cannot operate due to Russia’s war, then Russian ones should not either.
“The IT Army is actively working, almost everyday Russian sites go down, data leaks, and government agencies are paralyzed. One of the latest cases is the shutdown of Russia’s largest airports,” Fedorov wrote.
On 28 September, Russian airlines reported issues checking in passengers at airports due to a glitch in the Leonardo booking system operated by Sirena-Travel, which is linked to the state defense conglomerate Rostec.
According to RBС Russia, Aeroflot, Rossiya, Azur Air, Red Wings, Pobeda, and Ural Airlines all saw passenger registration problems.
Rostec claimed the system experienced a massive DDOS cyber attack from abroad. A company representative later said the system was restored, and services were operational again.
The alleged hacking demonstrates Ukraine’s capability to digitally target Russian infrastructure in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion.
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