A Belarusian hacking group said it gained access to the computers of the largest plant for fertilizers in the country in order to put pressure on the government to release political prisoners, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The state enterprise "Grodno Azot" has not commented on the hacking group's claims and whether there was damage to backup systems, encrypted internal mail, document movement or hundreds of computers. The plant's website has been down since Wednesday, the day of the alleged attack.
The coordinator of the hacking group, Juliana Shametavets, told the Associated Press that the plant works with dangerous chemicals, which is why only the documentation was the target of the attack.
"Grodno Azot" has nearly 7,500 employees and is a key producer for the country, for whose economy the chemical industry is a structure-determining branch.
A brutal crackdown on the opposition in Belarus began after the country was gripped by protests in August 2020 following presidential elections in which authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term. However, the results were not recognized by the opposition and the West, notes AP.
Activists claim that nearly 35,000 people were detained in the ensuing crackdown, with nearly 1,400 political prisoners serving sentences.
The hacker group said the alleged attack was punishment for "harassing, pressuring and conducting political repression against the company's employees.