“Ukraine has published the names and addresses of 620 FSB officers in an apparent data breach of the Russian security agency,” the U.K. publication called The Times reports. Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, was involved in preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent invasion of Ukraine, and inside Russia, leaders at the agency have seemingly faced blame for the strategic failures Russia has suffered during the war. FSB leaders Sergey Beseda and Anatoly Bolyukh were recently reported to have been placed under arrest by Russian authorities; Beseda’s (potentially previous) role was at the helm of the agency’s foreign intelligence-gathering arm. Russian journalist Andrei Soldatov said pre-invasion findings from the FSB were “simply not right, which is part of the reason as to why things have gone so badly for Russia.”
⚡️Prosecutor General: Russia used cluster munitions in Kherson, Odesa oblasts.
Iryna Venediktova said that Ukraine had evidence Russia had used cluster bombs in these regions. Targeting civilians with those munitions may constitute a war crime, according to Amnesty International
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 28, 2022
Information on those hundreds of officers exposed by Ukrainian intelligence services includes their car models, license plate details, phone numbers, and dates and places of birth, as The Times explained. Ukrainian officials did not provide extensive details on the actions in which these Russian officers are alleged to have been involved; the targeted Russian individuals were, rather, identified as “Employees of the FSB of Russia involved in the criminal activities of the aggressor-state in Europe,” as explained in Reuters’s reporting. Throughout the conflict, Russian personnel have faced significant strategic losses, and some of the accompanying breaches of their technological security perimeters have had serious consequences for Putin’s rampaging army. At one juncture, Ukrainian personnel were able to find a Russian general because of intercepting his communications — and that general and his staff were subsequently killed.
⚡️ Irpin declared liberated from Russian forces.
According to Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn, civilians aren’t yet allowed to return to the city, which is located just northwest of Kyiv. There is a high risk of Russia’s further attacks.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 28, 2022
Meanwhile, The Guardian reported in February, shortly after the war began, that the hacking group Anonymous “claimed credit for several cyber incidents including distributed denial of service attacks – where a site is rendered unreachable by being bombarded with traffic – that have brought down [Russian] government websites and that of Russia Today, the state-backed news service.” Anonymous “also said it had hacked [Russia’s] Ministry of Defence database, while on [February 26] it was claimed the group had hacked Russian state TV channels, posting pro-Ukraine content including patriotic songs and images from the invasion,” per the same outlet. Much more recently, Ukraine’s defenders have secured strategic wins including the liberation of the Kyiv-area town of Irpin, although the devastation there and across Ukraine is immense. The reported death toll in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol has gone up to some 5,000, including around 210 children.
⚡️ Mariupol authorities estimate that Russian shelling and airstrikes have already killed nearly 5,000 residents, including 210 children.
The southeastern port city has been under siege since March 1.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 28, 2022
