March 01, 2023

Ukrainians Hack the Airwaves


Ukrainians Hack the Airwaves
A person listening to "Sputnik in Crimea" in their car as a message from the Ukrainian chief of Military Intelligence was playing.  ASTRA, Telegram.

Hackers took over radio frequencies in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and broadcast the Ukrainian anthem, followed by a message from Ukraine's chief of military intelligence. This incident occurred a day before the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian chief of military intelligence addressed listeners in Russian:

Citizens of Ukraine, this is Kirill Budanov addressing you. Ukraine will regain all invaded territories. Donbas [and] the Autonomous Republic of Crimea will always return home. We will find every traitor to Ukraine, wherever they may be hiding. All of them will be liquidated. To all patriots: the time to act has arrived. Wait. We will come to you. Glory to Ukraine!

Crimeans quickly took to social media with recordings of the broadcast. The radio stations Sputnik in Crimea, Vera, and Crimea government officials confirmed the hack. Control over the frequencies was restored later the same day.

On February 22, a similar incident occurred inside Russia. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, radio stations in Voronezh, Belgorod, and Kurgan oblasts played an air raid alert and false information on a possible missile strike. The fake announcements were broadcast via the radio stations Relax FM, Comedy Radio, Avtoradio (Car Radio), and Yumor FM (Humor FM).

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine is ready to return Crimea to Ukrainain control, be it by peaceful or by military means. 

You Might Also Like

Notes at the Front

Notes at the Front

Musicians have not been spared from the criminalization of protest and expression. We also share Ilya Yashin's final words.
Another Political Prisoner
  • February 20, 2023

Another Political Prisoner

A court in Barnaul sentenced an independent Russian journalist for "fake news" about the Russian army.
AI Will Watch You
  • February 13, 2023

AI Will Watch You

Russian authorities plan to use artificial intelligence to scour the interwebs for undesirable political information.
Dangerous Dreams
  • December 23, 2022

Dangerous Dreams

Russians are being fined for their dreams, "likes," and "silent support."
A Dangerous Film about Dangerous Wars
  • May 10, 2019

A Dangerous Film about Dangerous Wars

Pavel Lungin’s controversial film Братство is nothing new, but its political context is — and that’s what makes it so dangerous.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955