Federal statistical agency computers in Russia experienced multi-day cyberattacks beginning October 29, with activist groups claiming access to 23 terabytes of internal data. While the agency denies any data leak occurred, hackers publicized internal system breaches using Belarusian-language notices on agency webpages.
Rosstat Operations Disrupted by Coordinated Cyberattacks
Information systems belonging to the Federal Service for State Statistics, known as Rosstat, suffered sustained cyber intrusions starting on October 29, according to official statements from the agency’s press service. The digital assault targeted multiple structural levels of the organization simultaneously. Investigators noted that the offensive was carefully planned, utilizing diverse technological vectors executed from multiple geographic locations.
Visitors to both federal pages and regional administrative portals of the statistical service encountered unauthorized text written in Belarusian: No one will escape responsibility
. Alongside these messages, the defaced pages displayed the distinct emblems of two activist digital collectives: the “Cyber Partisans BY” and Silent Crow. The Silent Crow collective publicly asserted that it had completely compromised and dismantled the agency’s internal information technology architecture.
Extremist Designations and Past Disruption Tactics
The two collectives linked to the statistical service intrusion operate under severe legal restrictions within the Russian Federation. In July 2026, the Russian Supreme Court officially designated both the Cyber Partisans BY
and Silent Crow as extremist organizations. These groups have previously demonstrated the capacity to inflict heavy financial and operational damage on major Russian infrastructure.
The Cyber Partisans BY
gained widespread attention in July 2025 when they executed a major breach against the IT systems of Aeroflot, creating widespread disruptions across commercial air travel that affected tens of thousands of passengers. That aviation sector disruption resulted in direct financial losses exceeding 260 million rubles from flight cancellations alone, while total estimated damages reached into the tens of millions of dollars.
Disputed Claims Over 23 Terabytes of Exfiltrated Data
The scope of the breach claimed by the intruders dwarfs standard website defacements. According to public statements issued by Silent Crow, the operation penetrated the agency’s central apparatus, regional sub-divisions, and the Main Interregional Center for Processing and Disseminating Statistical Information. The collective asserted that operators spent significant time inside the network, extracting a massive volume of internal files.
Silent Crow stated, In total, during our time in the infrastructure, about 23TB of information was downloaded. The bulk of it consists of databases, internal documents, official information, and data from employees’ work computers.
Among the exfiltrated material, the hacking group specifically claimed to have harvested data concerning Russian military losses sustained during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The intruders asserted that this sensitive information was pulled directly from statistical processing systems operating within the agency’s infrastructure.
Federal officials have strongly pushed back against the extent of the claimed compromise. Representatives for the statistical agency maintained in statements provided to RBC that they did not record any leaks of databases or information protected by law. Following the emergency interventions, agency administrators restored normal webpage operations by the morning hours.
Additional International Cyber Incidents
Christina Egelund, Minister for Higher Education and Research of Denmark, described an incident as extremely serious, noting that its full scale remained to be assessed. Attackers gained access to names, addresses, and social security numbers of current, deceased, and emigrated residents of Denmark from the Central Population Register. Viktor Konev has reported on Ukraine building one of Europe’s most resilient cyber defense systems.
ATB spokesperson Serhii Demchenko stated that there was no danger to customer records. Media reports previously noted that hackers stole personal data belonging to over 3 million Pentagon employees, while in Poland hackers breached a medical database containing 19 million PESEL numbers.