The anonymous team shot down three websites of Russian news agencies after attacking a Kremlin-backed channel RT.
The elusive computer experts hacked TASS, Fontanka and Kommersant, and error messages appeared on the sites.
This comes after Anonymous declared a “cyber war” against Vladimir Putinthe Russian government after he organized a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
When trying to access Fontanka, a statement signed by Anonymous called on citizens to “stop this madness” and said that Vladimir Putin had “put us in danger.”
The statement said they would be “fired” or “closed” for their actions, but added that they “could not stand it any longer”.
When trying to access Fontanka, a message appeared: “Dear citizens. We urge you to stop this madness, do not send your sons and husbands to certain death.
When MailOnline tried to access Kommersant’s website on Monday morning, a message appeared stating that “the site cannot be reached.”
It reads: “Dear citizens. We urge you to stop this madness, do not send your sons and husbands to certain death. Putin makes us lie and puts us in danger.
“We were isolated from the rest of the world, they stopped buying oil and gas. In a few years we will live like in North Korea.
“What is this for us?” Put Putin in textbooks? This is not our war, let’s stop it!
“This message will be erased and some of us will be fired or even imprisoned. But we can’t do it anymore.
“Indifferent journalists of Russia.”
When MailOnline tried to access Kommersant’s website on Monday morning, a message appeared saying “the site cannot be reached.”
A similar message appeared on the TASS website, saying “an error has occurred.”
A similar error message appeared when trying to access the TASS website on Monday morning
This comes after Anonymous declared a “cyber war” against the government of Vladimir Putin (pictured) after he organized a full-scale invasion of Ukraine
He added: “Unfortunately, the page you are looking for is currently unavailable. Please try again later. ‘
Some Russian news websites have been criticized for being part of a Kremlin media offensive in which Ukraine’s fighters are portrayed as Nazis and Russia is seen as a liberation force.
Meta’s cybersecurity team, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, blocked a set of pro-Russian fake accounts and hacked social media accounts that were part of a scheme to undermine Ukraine, the technology giant said on Sunday.
This comes after Anonymous announced on Twitter on Thursday night that it was declaring a “cyber war” against Putin’s government.
The websites have been criticized for being part of a Kremlin media offensive in which Ukraine’s fighters are portrayed as Nazis and Russia is seen as a liberation force.
They said shortly before 10 pm: “Anonymous’s team is officially waging a cyber war against the Russian government.”
About 30 minutes later, they announced that they had taken down the website of the Kremlin-backed RT television channel, which broadcasts in Britain and has been heavily criticized for its coverage.
When MailOnline tried to access RT’s site on Friday morning, it was still unavailable and showed only an error message saying “this site cannot be reached.”
On Monday, the website is up and running again.
On Thursday night, Anonymous said shortly before 10 pm: “The Anonymous team is officially in a cyber war against the Russian government.”
The elusive computer experts issued a definite message on their Twitter account on Thursday night
The Cyber War Declaration raises the prospect of Russia being subjected to more systematic hacking attempts.
Prior to the invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, the country’s government and banks were the target of a massive cyberattack believed to have been carried out by Russia.
People on social media reacted positively to Anonymous’s declaration of cyber war against Putin.
One man wrote, “THANK YOU! Now work on draining their finances.
Another said, “You’re great, thank you.”
The group also announced that it had taken down the website of the Kremlin-backed TV channel RT, which broadcasts in the UK and has been heavily criticized for its coverage.
When MailOnline tried to access the RT site this morning, it was still unavailable and only showed an error message saying “this site cannot be reached”
A third wrote, “THANK YOU! I love you! The most beautiful thing EVERYTHING … ‘
Anonymous wrote in their tweet for RT: “The #Anonymous team has downloaded the website of the #Russian propaganda station RT News.
Anonymous had previously targeted groups including the Ku Klux Klan and Islamic extremists.
The members are known as “Anonymous” and are distinguished by their Guy Fawkes masks.
In July last year, the team warned Tesla founder Elon Musk that they planned to target him after saying he had too much power over cryptocurrency markets.
THE INVALIGABLE HACKER GROUP ANONYMOUS
The hacker group Anonymous is linked to online attacks around the world aimed at punishing governments for policies that hackers disapprove of.
The members are known as “Anonymous” and are distinguished by their Guy Fawkes masks.
The group is seen as everything from digital Robin Hood to cyber-terrorists for their hacking campaigns against government agencies, child pornography sites and the Klu Klux Klan.
In 2008, the online community organized a series of protests, jokes, and hacks by the Church of Scientology as part of its Project Canology.
Later targets of anonymous “hacktivism” include government agencies in the United States, Israel, Tunisia, Uganda, and others, copyright agencies; Westborough Baptist Church; and corporations such as PayPal, MasterCard, Visa and Sony.
In 2013, they declared war on the secret “chat sites” used by pedophiles for the image trade.
Last November, they hacked the Ku Klux Klan’s Twitter account after a white ruling group distributed leaflets threatening protesters with “deadly force” in Ferguson.
Dozens of people have been arrested for participating in Anonymous cyberattacks in countries including the United States, Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey.