Hackers claim they breached Russian election systems days before the vote

Just days before voting begins for the new parliament, an anonymous group of hackers says it has breached computer systems linked to Russia’s election infrastructure.

The group, known as CikLeak, claims to have gained access to the systems of Russia’s Central Election Commission and companies involved in developing the state-run Vybory platform, which is used to administer elections. According to the hackers, the stolen materials include internal documents, server configurations, passwords and communications between Commission employees and contractors, including Russian telecommunications giant Rostelecom.

The obtained materials were handed over to Important Stories, an independent Russian investigative media outlet, which said it had verified the documents. However, the extent of the breach of the election infrastructure remains unclear, as does whether the hackers gained access to systems used directly for voting or counting votes.

CikLeak says it does not intend to block the voting process or disrupt the work of election commissions. The group says it aims to expose the inner workings of the Russian electoral system, as well as what it describes as the potential for manipulating the results.