MOSCOW: Russian national flag carrier Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after a crippling cyberattack claimed by a shadowy pro-Ukrainian hacking group, which one lawmaker called a wake-up call for Moscow.

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.

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.

Silent Crow has previously claimed responsibility for attacks this year on a Russian real estate database, a state telecoms company, a large insurance firm, the Moscow government’s IT department and the Russian office of South Korean carmaker KIA.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2025