Something really weird is going on with Russian soldiers and their ability to drink vodka.
Tech blog Bleeping Computer spotted reports yesterday that multiple distributed denial of service — a type of attack that overwhelm a server by flooding it with junk traffic — had disrupted alcohol sellers’ access to a portal used by the Russian government to coordinate distribution of alcohol.
The tech site pointed to Russian news outlet Vedomosti, which is reporting major problems with alcohol sales and purchases.
“Due to a large-scale failure, factories cannot accept tanks with alcohol, and customers, stores, and distributors, can not receive finished products that have already been delivered to them,” reads the Vedomosti report.
Bleeping Computer also found that Ukraine’s IT Army, an international group of hackers that’s been coordinating attacks on Russian cyber infrastructure, had listed the alcohol distribution portal in question as a target.
Don’t go jumping to any obvious conclusions yet, though — Vedomosti, like many Russian news outlets, is loyal to the government and its President Vladimir Putin. Its owner is Ivan Yeremin, who the Financial Times describes as a “pro-Kremlin entrepreneur.”
Could it be possible that Vedomosti is blaming Ukrainian hackers for something they didn’t do?
Absolutely.
Do we think people around the world who oppose Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine would cheer for any vodka-depriving behavior that leads to Russia’s downfall?
Absolutely, and it’s hard to blame them.
It’s all certainly possible — the DDoS attacks could even be real — but with how tight a misinformation ship Putin runs, it’s also plausible that state-owned outlets are simply telling the Russian people what the Kremlin wants them to hear. It’s just as likely those websites are down through some fault of the country itself, or as a cover-up for military incompetence.
Media: proceed with caution.
More on the European conflict: Former Astronaut Muzzled by NASA Unloads on Russia Again