---
title: "Hackers Trying to Prevent War by Disrupting Railway Used by Russian Military"
description: "As the Russian military are gathering forces near the Ukrainian border, a hacktivist group claims they hacked a Belarusian railway system."
date: "2022-01-25"
modified: "2022-01-25"
authors:
  - name: "Tony Ho Tran"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/ttran"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hackers-railway-russian-military"
categories:
  - "Cybersecurity"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Hacking"
  - "Military"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "belarus"
  - "hacktivist"
  - "Russia"
  - "the digest"
---

# Hackers Trying to Prevent War by Disrupting Railway Used by Russian Military

![As the Russian military are gathering forces near the Ukrainian border, a hacktivist group claims they hacked a Belarusian railway system.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/hackers-railway-russian-military.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP\</em\>*

## Trains, Planes, and Military-Grade Weaponry

Tensions are high between Ukraine and Russia right now — and hacktivists are trying to tip the scales.

As the Russian military [gathers forces](<https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/europe/ukraine-russia-tensions-explainer-cmd-intl/index.html>) near the Ukrainian border, a hacktivist group known as Cyber Partisans are claiming they've hacked a Belarusian railway system to disrupt weaponry buildup, [*Ars Technica* reports](<https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/01/hactivists-say-they-hacked-belarus-rail-system-to-stop-russian-military-buildup/>).

The railway is allegedly used by the Russian military to funnel weapons into a region of Belarus, a key strategic area for Moscow if they want to invade Ukraine. The hacktivist group called on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to stop aiding the Russian military.

"The government continues to suppress the free will of Belarusians, imprison innocent people, they continue to unlawfully keep… thousands of political prisoners," a spokesperson for the hacktivists told *Ars.* They added that they want to overthrow "Lukashenko’s regime."

https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1485612854841647107

## Ransomware Attack

Cyber Partisans appears to have used ransomware to shut down the railway. While the Belarusian government has yet to publicly acknowledge the attack, the railway itself did release [a statement to travelers](<https://www.rw.by/corporate/press_center/news_of_passengers/2022/01/vnimaniyu-passazhirov_24012022/>) announcing “technical reasons” for delayed travel.

It’s yet to be confirmed conclusively whether ransomware was used, but one cybersecurity expert told *Ars* that the images the group used to establish their hack show that ransomware could be used as a "tool for the underdog in what amounts to a revolutionary struggle."

Let’s be clear: this is very unlikely to deter Russian forces for long. However, it’s still a very scrappy, cyberpunk way to try and thwart a military takeover of Ukraine — and at least *slow down* the potential onslaught of World War III.

**READ MORE:** [Hacktivists say they hacked Belarus rail system to stop Russian military buildup](<https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/01/hactivists-say-they-hacked-belarus-rail-system-to-stop-russian-military-buildup/>) \[*Ars Technica*\]

**More on hacktivists:** [*Nazis Exposed After Their Web Host Gets Hacked*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nazis-exposed-web-host-hacked>)

## Author
Tony Tran is a former reporter for Futurism, and now an editor at the Daily Beast. His work has been seen in Playboy, HuffPost, Narratively, and wherever else fine writing is published. He lives in Chicago where he frequently plans tabletop gaming sessions for his friends.