Russia’s Aeroflot cancels over 100 flights after cyberattack cripples IT systems

Russian airline Aeroflot cancelled over 100 flights after a cyberattack crippled its IT systems, the Prosecutor's Office said. Ukrainian and Belarusian hacker groups claimed responsibility, alleging they stole data from Aeroflot’s network. A criminal probe has been launched.

Moscow: Russian state-owned flagship carrier Aeroflot suffered a major IT outage on Monday following a cyberattack, Russia’s Prosecutor’s Office said, forcing the airline to cancel more than 100 flights and delay several others.

Footage shared on social media showed hundreds of passengers stranded at Moscow‘s Sheremetyevo Airport, where Aeroflot is based. The outage also disrupted flights operated by Aeroflot subsidiaries Rossiya and Pobeda.

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While most affected flights were domestic, some international services to Belarus, Armenia, and Uzbekistan were also canceled.

In a statement released early Monday, Aeroflot warned passengers that the company’s IT system was facing “unspecified difficulties,” leading to widespread disruption.

Russia’s Prosecutor’s Office later confirmed that a cyberattack had caused the outage and that a criminal investigation had been opened.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the reports of the attack “quite alarming,” adding, “The hacker threat remains for all large companies providing services to the general public.”

Ukrainian hacker group Silent Crow and Belarusian hacker activist group Belarus Cyber-Partisans, which opposes the rule of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The groups claimed they had accessed Aeroflot’s corporate network for a year, copying customer and internal data, including audio recordings of phone calls, employee surveillance data, and intercepted communications.

“All of these resources are now inaccessible or destroyed, and restoring them will possibly require tens of millions of dollars. The damage is strategic,” the Silent Crow channel wrote on Telegram. The claims could not be independently verified.

The same channel shared screenshots purportedly showing Aeroflot’s internal IT systems and hinted it could begin releasing seized data in the coming days.

“The personal data of all Russians who have ever flown with Aeroflot have now also gone on a trip – albeit without luggage and to the same destination,” it said.

Russia’s airports have repeatedly faced mass delays over the summer due to Ukrainian drone attacks, with flights grounded amid safety concerns.