The Pulse
Russia's Election Chief Says AI-Linked Groups Launched 1,000 DDoS Waves
Russia's electoral chief said more than 1,000 waves of cyberattacks targeted infrastructure involved in the country's parliamentary vote, while the defence ministry accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the election.
AI.info Team ·
Russia’s electoral chief said more than 1,000 waves of distributed denial-of-service attacks targeted infrastructure involved in the country’s parliamentary elections, including attacks that appeared to have been carried out by coordinated groups using artificial-intelligence tools.
Ella Pamfilova, chair of Russia’s Central Election Commission, made the claim as voting entered its final day. She did not identify who was responsible, and the account published by Agence France-Presse does not report independent technical evidence linking the activity to a particular actor.
Pamfilova Reports More Than 1,000 Attack Waves
“The attacks appeared to have been carried out by ‘highly professional, well-coordinated groups using artificial intelligence tools,’” Ella Pamfilova, chair of Russia’s Central Election Commission, said.
Pamfilova was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying more than 1,000 DDoS waves had been recorded against infrastructure specifically involved in the electoral process.
DDoS attacks attempt to overwhelm websites or other online services with large volumes of traffic, making them difficult to access or forcing systems to spend resources filtering the requests. Pamfilova’s statement did not provide technical details about how artificial intelligence was used.
Russia Says Voting Systems Stayed Available
The AFP report did not provide details on the number of attacks directed at particular election systems, the volume of requests involved, the countries from which traffic originated or the technical impact on the targeted infrastructure.
It also did not establish whether the reported attacks changed election results or prevented voters from casting ballots. Pamfilova said the attacks had targeted election infrastructure, but the report did not include independent technical findings about the activity.
The Claim Came During a Tense Final Voting Day
The cyberattack allegations emerged as Ukraine launched a large drone assault on Moscow and the surrounding region. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack involved some 1,600 drones, 450 of which were aimed directly at the capital.
At least two people were killed in separate locations, according to Moscow regional Governor Andrey Vorobyov. A fire triggered by a drone crashing into a 21-storey building also led to the evacuation of 400 people, he said.
Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to “disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens” and vowed a response.
“In response to the Kyiv regime's attacks on civilian targets within Russia, the Russian army will continue and intensify its high-accuracy strikes against military targets in Kyiv,” the Russian defence ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the attacks, saying they had hit an oil-industry facility and a logistics site.
Pamfilova separately warned that saboteurs had severed communication lines in Russia’s Far East, describing the incident as an apparent attempt to frustrate voting. AFP reported that Russian authorities had not publicly identified those behind the cyberattacks or the alleged communications sabotage.
Election Results Expected After Voting Ends
The parliamentary vote decides all 450 seats in Russia’s lower-house State Duma and was the country’s first since it launched its Ukraine offensive.
An exit poll by the state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed United Russia winning 49.4 percent, with the Communist Party and nationalist LDPR party on 14.2 and 10.7 percent respectively.
The exit poll did not include electronic voting or military ballots. The first official results and turnout were expected on Monday morning.
AFP reported that the election was tightly controlled and that all other parties contesting the vote supported the war and Russian President Vladimir Putin. United Russia chairman Dmitry Medvedev said his party appeared to have performed admirably.