Hackers have attacked the Belarussian train network in what they say is a bid to halt war in Eastern Europe or a larger-scale conflict.
A group calling itself 'Cyber Partisans' said they carried out the hack which halted train movements in a bid to stop the build up of Russian troops within Belarus and to demand the release of political prisoners held by the Belarussian Lukashenko regime.
Tensions are running high in the region as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine mount, accusations Russia denies. The Russian and Belarussian governments are currently running joint military drills in Belarus which Western forces believe could be a covert operation to invade Ukraine from the north and potentially seize the capital Kyiv.
A spokesperson for the group said:
"The government continues to suppress the free will of Belarusians, imprison innocent people, they continue to unlawfully keep… thousands of political prisoners."
The group added that they wanted to overthrow the Lukashenko regime and that hacking was a tool for the underdog in a 'revolutionary struggle', that Russian military build up on its territory was a threat to Belarussian sovereignty, and that Belarussians should not die in a pointless war. They said:
"We don't want Russian soldiers in Belarus since it compromises the sovereignty of the country and puts it in danger of occupation… It also pulls Belarus into a war with Ukraine. And probably Belarusian soldiers would have to participate in it and die for this meaningless war."
It is believed that ransomware technology was used in the attack, software that is usually used to extort money from businesses and individuals. The attack is said to have wiped the internal databases used to manage train journeys.
The Cyber Partisans have threatened to increase their attacks of political prisoners are not released. As many as 1000 political prisoners and pro-democracy protestors lie in Belarussian jails, most of whom were arrested after the country's last election which was widely suspected of being rigged.
Speaking to The Guardian, an undercover member of the group said:
"Since it became very dangerous for people to openly protest against the regime, we now became the only force capable of operating in Belarus. We show real results of our work both by hacking and attacking government institutions and conducting physical impact operations."
They added that they had compromising information on the Belarussian leader Lukashenko, saying:
"We know now more about his assets, his lovers, and secret criminal schemes. We think he only now realises how much information we were able to gather and how harmful it is for him."
Talks are ongoing between world powers as to how to calm tensions and avoid conflict.
[Based on reporting by: Futurism]
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