Russia’s ‘impossible-to-hack’ election system breached before vote

Russia’s new electronic voting system has been hit by a claimed hacker breach just two days before polling opens for the first State Duma election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Hackers claim they stole the election system’s secrets

An anonymous group calling itself CikLeak said it breached infrastructure belonging to Russia’s Central Election Commission and contractor Tsifrotekh, claiming it obtained source code and passwords linked to the country’s electronic voting platform.

Investigative outlet Vazhnye Istorii, which received the material, said it had confirmed its authenticity. The files reportedly include internal documents, application source code, employee correspondence and recordings of internal calls.

‘Impossible to hack’ claim faces fresh scrutiny

Tsifrotekh, a subsidiary of state-owned telecoms giant Rostelecom, helped develop GAS “Elections” 2.0, the upgraded automated election system introduced earlier this year.

Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova had described the platform in August as “impossible to hack”, saying it was completely isolated from the internet and therefore protected against outside interference.

Tsifrotekh director Alexey Gusev said he was unaware of any intrusion, according to Meduza.

CikLeak calls for paper ballots

The hackers have presented the release as a political protest rather than an attempt to sabotage the election. They urged Russians to reject remote electronic voting, describing it as the easiest route to vote theft, and instead cast ballots in person.

The group also warned local election officials against participating in alleged vote-rigging, saying it knew their identities.

A high-stakes test for Russia’s wartime vote

The Duma election runs from September 18 to 20 and is the first federal parliamentary election since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Kremlin is presenting the vote as a broad demonstration of support for its wartime course, while independent monitors have raised concerns about the expansion of remote electronic voting.

Vazhnye Istorii said it is preparing a wider investigation based on the leaked material, potentially putting further pressure on Moscow’s claims that its new voting infrastructure is secure.

Hackers breach Russia's 'impossible-to-hack' vote system days before Duma elections