Russians falsely warned of nuclear attack after the country’s TV system was hacked

Several TV and radio stations in Russia were hacked on Thursday, prompting them to send out messages warning of a  nuclear attack and asking listeners and viewers to put on gas masks and seek cover.

Residents in eastern Russia were advised to “take potassium iodide pills” and seek shelter at once during the hacked broadcast, as per a report from Metro.

“There was a strike. Urgently go to a shelter,” viewers of TV were told as a map of Russia displayed the country turning red from west to east. “Seal the premises. Use gas masks of all types. In the absence of gas masks, use cotton-gauze bandages.”

TV channels also showed a black and yellow radiation warning with a message telling viewers to proceed “immediately to shelter.”

The messages were broadcast on TV and heard on radio stations in the Moscow and Sverdlovsk regions. The messages also interrupted the regular TV and radio programme in Yekaterinburg, which is Russia’s fourth-largest city.

The hack was significant enough to get a response from the Russian emergency ministry. They released a statement saying a “false air raid alert was broadcast in Moscow after servers of radio stations and TV channels were hacked.”

A similar incident took place on February 22^nd when an broadcast was interrupted by “air raid alert” and the show was stopped for a “missile threat” less than one week later.

The day before the most recent hack, several Russian streaming services fell victim to a hack when Russian President Vladimir Putin was addressing the nation.  The IT Army of Ukraine claimed responsibility for this hack.