Hacking Group Claims Breach of Russian Election Systems Ahead of Parliamentary Vote

An anonymous hacking group known as CikLeak claims to have breached computer systems connected to Russia's election infrastructure, including those belonging to the Central Election Commission and companies involved in building the state-run Vybory voting platform, such as telecom giant Rostelecom. The group says it stole internal documents, server configurations, passwords and employee communications, which it shared with an independent Russian investigative outlet that says it authenticated the material.

It is not yet confirmed how far the hackers penetrated the systems or whether they touched infrastructure directly involved in voting or ballot counting. CikLeak says its aim was not to disrupt the election but to expose internal workings of the electoral system and potential opportunities for manipulation. The group published screenshots it claims show compromised systems.

The alleged breach comes as Russia holds three days of voting for its 450 seat lower house of parliament, the first such election since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the first to use the newer Vybory 2.0 platform. Russian election officials had already flagged cyber risks ahead of the vote, and a security test conducted just before the disclosure identified weaknesses in the video surveillance system used to monitor polling.