Russia Foils US-based Hackers Attempting to Meddle in Elections

The website of the Russian Central Election Commission has reportedly been attacked by American hackers.

A group of US hackers launched an unsuccessful cyber-attack on the website of the Russian Central Election Commission ahead of the country's local elections, media reports said.

Elections in subjects of the Russian Federation

© Sputnik / Vitaly Belousov

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The attack is thought to be have been staged by a company based in the city of San Francisco; it took place on Saturday at about 23:23 Moscow time, according to Central Election Commission head Vladimir Churov.

"Someone tried to hack our website and change the content of its data with an intensity of 50,000 requests per minute," Churov said.

He added that the hacking attack had successfully been repulsed, and that the Central Election Commission had filed a request with the US authorities to find and punish the criminals.

He also heaped praise on the "brilliant" organization of the elections, something that Churov said could hardly have been achieved by Americans.

Local elections were held in most parts of Russia on Sunday; citizens in 83 regions voted in governors, legislators, and city council members.