The Twitter account for Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was hacked Thursday, denouncing the actions of President Vladimir Putin and announcing his resignation.
“I resign. I am ashamed for the actions of the government. I’m sorry,” the verified account tweeted to some 2.5 million followers, The Independent reported.
The statement was followed by a string of anti-Putin messages: “Crimea isn’t ours. Please retweet,” read one. “We could return to the 1980s. That is sad. If that is the objective of my colleagues in the Kremlin, they’ll achieve that quickly,” read another, the British newspaper said.
A government spokesperson told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency Mr. Medvedev’s account “has been hacked, the messages are not genuine. We’re working on the problem.”
The account appears to be back under official control and the tweets have been deleted.
Russian hacking group Shaltay Boltay (Russian for “Humpty Dumpty”) has claimed credit for the hack, saying they’ve also gained access to several email accounts belonging to Mr. Medvedev and “three of his Apple devices,” The Independent reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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