On 17 January 2025, state-owned TV channel Freedom was targeted in a cyber attack, according to Ukraine’s Multimedia Platform for Foreign Broadcasting, which the channel is part of.
According to the state broadcaster’s press service, the attack occurred in two waves. The site received over five million requests in a short time from almost 80 countries and continued to operate with minor complications. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) requests came from around 80 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, the Philippines, Brazil, Canada, Peru, and Thailand.
It was not clear exactly how long the attack lasted.
The Multimedia Platform for Foreign Broadcasting said its technical specialists were able to quickly overcome the issues created by the attack. Freedom’s website reportedly continued to work throughout the incident, but access to it was difficult in the countries from which the attack was launched.
The state broadcaster claimed Russian hackers were responsible for the attack, without providing further details on this claim.