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2024 Russian Presidential Election

Russia thwarts over 90,000 cyberattacks on electoral resources on March 15

The cyberattacks can be tracked down to Ukraine and IP addresses of Western Europe and North America, Head of Solar Company Igor Lapunov specified

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Over 90,000 cyberattacks on Russia’s electoral resources were thwarted on the first day of the country’s presidential election, Rostelecom Senior Vice President for Information Security, Head of Solar Company Igor Lapunov said via video conferencing in the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Saturday.

"Over 90,000 cyberattacks were carried out against electoral web portals, the resources of the CEC and online voting and Gosuslugi [the public services portal]. This is a large number, which exceeds by eight times the amount of cyberattacks registered on the Single Vote Day last year. All the attacks were repulsed," he said.

The cyberattacks can be tracked down to Ukraine and IP addresses of Western Europe and North America, he specified.

"Judging by the professionalism of cyberattacks, we can understand that professional, special groups are working," he said.

The Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, officially designated March 17, 2024 as the day of the presidential election. The Central Election Commission (CEC) then announced that voting will take place over three days on March 15-17.

Four candidates are vying for the top office, namely New People party nominee Vladislav Davankov; self-nominated candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) nominee Leonid Slutsky; and Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) nominee Nikolay Kharitonov.

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