Pope's 'Russia Remarks' Cause Vatican Website Crash...Suspected "Russian Hacker Attack"

Pope Criticizes Russian Minorities Including Chechens on 28th Last Month
Ukrainian Vatican Ambassador: "Russian Terrorists Accessed Site"

The Vatican website was attacked, apparently by Russian hackers, causing it to go down. The photo shows Pope Francis attending the General Audience at St. Peter's Square on the 30th of last month (local time). Photo by Reuters·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The day after Pope Francis made remarks about the brutality of Russia's ethnic minorities, the official Vatican website was subjected to a cyberattack.

On the 30th of last month (local time), the official Vatican website and some Vatican-related websites were down throughout the afternoon. Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesperson, stated, "There were abnormal attempts to access the website," and added, "A technical investigation is currently underway regarding this matter."

There are claims that the incident was the work of Russian hackers. Two days before the incident, on the 28th of last month, the Pope said in an interview with the American Jesuit magazine 'America,' "I have heard much information about the brutal war crimes committed by soldiers who invaded Ukraine," and "Among them, the most brutal are not traditional Russians but Chechens, Buryats, and others." The Pope also added, "Of course, it is clear that the aggressor is the Russian government."

Following the Pope's remarks, Russia immediately reacted. Alexander Alexeyevich Avdeyev, Russia's ambassador to the Holy See, said, "We are outraged by such slander," and "Nothing can shake the unity and solidarity of the multinational Russian people."

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticized, "Until recently, the West said that Slavs tortured Chechens, but now they are saying the opposite," and accused the Pope of "distorting the truth." Additionally, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic government and a member of the Russian military participating in the Ukraine war, also reacted angrily, saying, "The Pope has become a victim of propaganda."

Meanwhile, Ukraine has pointed to Russia as the culprit behind this cyberattack. Andrii Yurash, Ukraine's ambassador to the Holy See, tweeted on social media, "Russian terrorists accessed the Vatican City's site," sarcastically adding, "Russian hackers have once again shown the true face of Russian politics." He further stated, "This cyberattack is likely Russia's response to the Pope's important remarks."

There have been other recent cases of cyberattacks following anti-Russian actions. On the 23rd of last month, right after the European Union (EU) designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, the EU Parliament website was hit by a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack. At that time, Roberta Metsola, President of the EU Parliament, stated, "The Parliament website was subjected to a sophisticated cyberattack, and pro-Kremlin groups claimed responsibility."