Putin’s internet and state television was down in all 13 time zones of Russia.
All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company was targeted by the “hacks.”
A “serious hack” prevented the broadcast of Vladimir Putin‘s speech from going across all of Russia.
Instead of the Russian president’s speech to his Parliament, the message “Mistake 500” was broadcast on the state channels’ websites.
The web links of state channels saw the message ‘Mistake 500’ displayed, rather than the Russian president’s speech to his Parliament.
It appeared the problem reached the state broadcaster – All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) – across all 11 of Russia’s time zones.
State-run RIA Novosti news agency said the outage was caused by a distributed denial of service attack.
Radio Mayak – also blocked – said the web channels were hit by hackers.
Before the speech started, state TV broadcast a segment showing technical preparations, saying the live stream would be carried across all major networks.
In his rambling address to the country, Putin claimed he ‘didn’t start the war’, referring to it as a ‘special military operation’.
He claimed Ukrainians have been waiting for his troops to ‘come to their help’ and that the West released a ‘genie in a bottle.’
‘They started the war and we used the force to stop it,’ he said.
Putin repeatedly addressed the situation in the Donbas region – where vast areas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the war.
In his speech, he continued: ‘Step by step, carefully and consistently, we will resolve the tasks facing us.
‘Since 2014, the [people of the] Donbas had been fighting, defending their right to live on their own land, to speak their native language.
Putin: Ukraine started the war, West have kept it going
‘They fought and did not give up in the conditions of blockade and constant shelling, undisguised hatred on the part of the Kyiv regime.
‘We patiently tried to negotiate a peaceful way out of this most difficult conflict, but a completely different scenario was being prepared behind our backs.’