In October 2016,

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

hacker group CyberHunta leaked over a gigabyte of emails and other documents alleged to belong to Russian political operative and senior

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...

official

Vladislav Surkov Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov (russian: Владислав Юрьевич Сурков; born 21 September 1962 or 1964) is a Russian politician and businessman. He was First Deputy Chief of the Russian Presidential Administration from 1999 to 201 ...

. Known as Russia's " grey cardinal", Surkov served as a political adviser to President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

in the conflict in eastern Ukraine and is the architect of Russia's ideology of

sovereign democracy "Sovereign democracy" (russian: суверенная демократия, transl. ''suverennaya demokratiya'') is a term describing modern Russian politics first used by Vladislav Surkov on 22 February 2006 in a speech before a gathering of the ...

. The document leak included over 2,300 emails from Surkov's inbox. The emails illustrate Russian plans to politically upset Ukraine and the coordination of affairs with major opposition leaders in

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

east Ukraine. The release included a document sent to Surkov by

Denis Pushilin Denis Vladimirovich Pushilin (russian: Дени́с Влади́мирович Пуши́лин, ; uk, Денис Володимирович Пушилін, Denys Volodymyrovych Pushylin; born 9 May 1981) is a Russian and Ukrainian politician ...

, former Chairman of the People's Council of the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a Territorial ...

, listing casualties that occurred during 2014. It also included a 22-page outline of "a plan to support nationalist and separatist politicians and to encourage early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, all with the aim of undermining the government in /nowiki>Kyiv.html" ;"title="Kyiv.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kyiv">/nowiki>Kyiv">Kyiv.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kyiv">/nowiki>Kyiv/nowiki>." The Kremlin has said that the leaked documents are fake.

Authenticity

Washington think tank Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab conducted an analysis of the emails. They determined that they were genuine, based partially on the routing information. Russian entrepreneur

Yevgeny Chichvarkin Evgeny Aleksandrovich Chichvarkin (russian: link=no, Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Чичва́ркин; born on the 10th of September 1974 in Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian entrepreneur who founded the largest R ...

confirmed that his emails from the document dump were authentic, saying "Yes, this is my original text." Russian journalist Svetlana Babaeva also verified that her three emails from the leak were genuine. Kremlin press secretary

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Oleksandr Tkachuk of

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...

stated that they had managed to "authenticate a number of documents in the release" but could not confirm the authenticity of the entire batch of documents.

Publication

The leaked correspondence was obtained by alliance of

hacktivists In Internet activism, hacktivism, or hactivism (a portmanteau of ''hack'' and '' activism''), is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. With roots in ha ...

calling themselves the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance. They secured the release of thousands of emails and documents in a 1GB Microsoft Outlook data file. Which were then analyzed by a second group,

Inform Napalm InformNapalm is a volunteer initiative to inform Ukrainian citizens and the foreign public about the Russo-Ukrainian War and the activities of the Russian special services as well as the militants of DPR, LPR, and Novorossiya. The team members ...

, an open-source journalistic investigative group, and finally published online in three batches. The first two batches, known as 'the Surkov Leaks' were published on the internet on 25 October and 3 November 2016, included correspondence from Surkov's office email account. The third batch was published on 2 November 2017, these contained correspondence from Surkov's first deputy,

Inal Ardzinba Inal Batuvych Ardzinba ( ab, Инал Арӡынба; ; russian: Инал Батувич Ардзинба; born 26 July 1990) is the current Minister for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia. According to Yevgeny Yasin, former president of Abkhazia Vladi ...

and Kharkiv Communist Party leader Alla Aleksandrovska. The material made available was from September 2013 to November 2014, when Russia was pursuing its 'Novorossiya' project. Inform Napalm reported that the hackers also were in possession of documents from 2015 and 2016 that were being analysed by intelligence agencies and were not released due to their operational value. New batches of emails from the leak were further published in November 2017 and April 2018.

The document leak was a

Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as Calen ...

data file (.PST) that included 2,337 emails from the inbox of Surkov's prm_surkova@gov.ru. The released material covers a period from September 2013 to November 2014. The email address appears to have been an office account run by Surkov's aides, including "Masha" and "Yevgenia". Among the documents were scans of Surkov's and his family's

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

s. While the vast majority of the emails comprise routine briefings and schedules, a small handful are of geopolitical significance or potentially incriminating. These emails illustrate Russian plans to politically destabilize Ukraine and the coordination of affairs with major opposition leaders in separatist east Ukraine. An email sent to Surkov and others on 14 June 2014 by

, the former Chairman of the People's Council of the

, contains a document listing casualties that occurred from 26 May to 6 June 2014. The list of casualties includes a row for an unnamed soldier listed as "VDV Pskovsky" ("ВДВ Псковский"), a designation for a deployment of

Russian Airborne Troops The Russian Airborne Forces (russian: Воздушно-десантные войска России, ВДВ, Vozdushno-desantnye voyska Rossii, VDV) are the airborne forces branch of the Russian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1992 from units of ...

(VDV) from the city of

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

. Paratroopers based in Pskov were thought to be among the first of Russia's covert casualties in Ukraine in 2014. The Pskov-based 76th Guards Air Assault Division was awarded the

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 1942 ...

by Putin for unspecified tasks in August 2014. An email sent to Surkov from a Russian government account on 18 June 2014 detailed the practicalities of Russia absorbing a portion of Ukraine. An email attachment included a briefing paper titled "On the Risks of an Economic Blockade of the LNR and DNR". The paper noted that 30% of the

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

electrical supply comes from power plants in

Zaporizhzhya Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...

. The document includes suggestions to supplement electrical supply in Donbas with power from the

Rostov Nuclear Power Plant Rostov Nuclear Power Plant (russian: Ростовская АЭС []), also known as Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant (russian: Волгодонская АЭС []), is a Russian nuclear power plant located on the left bank of the Tsimlyansk reservoir ...

in Russia. The document's author also suggested increasing iron ore shipments and connecting Donbas to the

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census. Geography V ...

electricity grid. One of the emails to Surkov from

Konstantin Malofeev Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeev (russian: link=no, Константин Валерьевич Малофеев) is a Russian businessman and chairman of non-government pro-monarchism organisation Society for the Development of Russian Historical ...

contained a list of recommended candidates for positions in the separatist government prior to their appointments. The documents also included a spreadsheet containing the budget for a newspaper in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

. On 25 August 2014, a Russian official forwarded an email to Surkov from ''Russian Reporter'' editor Vitaly Leybin. The email bore the title "corrections in the text" and concerned a letter to the Ukrainian government from the "public representatives of the Donbas." A nearly identical article, purportedly from citizens living in Ukraine, appeared in ''Russian Reporter'' days later with only minor changes. Within the week, the letter had appeared on ''

Russia Today RT (formerly Russia Today or Rossiya Segodnya (russian: Россия Сегодня) is a Russian state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates pay television and free-to-air channels ...

'' and other Russian websites. One of the documents included in the leak was a 22-page outline of "a plan to support nationalist and separatist politicians and to encourage early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, all with the aim of undermining the government in /nowiki>Kyiv.html" ;"title="Kyiv.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kyiv">/nowiki>Kyiv">Kyiv.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kyiv">/nowiki>Kyiv/nowiki>."

References

External links

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Surkov Leaks
at

{{Russo-Ukrainian War navbox War in Donbas 2016 controversies 2016 in Russia 2016 in Ukraine Email hacking Political controversies in Russia Russo-Ukrainian War Vladimir Putin Russian–Ukrainian cyberwarfare Propaganda in Ukraine

Authenticity

Publication

Contents

See also

References

External links