Hackers Appear To Have Disabled Russian EV Chargers; Leaving Anti-Putin Messages

March 1, 2022 by Dave Haynes

Along with putting messages digital billboards that might be seen by Russian soldiers, enterprising Ukrainians (or people supporting them) are finding other ways to raise their objection to the invasion of their country.

Motorists with electric vehicles found it impossible to charge their cars at public EV charging kiosks on motorways outside of Moscow because the stations had evidently been hacked and disabled, with the kiosk screens running error messages and pro-Ukraine statements.

Vice reports that the charging stations were produced by a Ukrainian parts supplier based in the besieged city of Kharkiv: “This morning (yesterday), posts began to appear on social media showing the chargers were disabled and programmed to display pro-Ukrainian messages.

AutoEnterprise’s Facebook page re-posted a video taken by an Instagram user from the M11 motorway showing the disabled chargers. The chargers show an error message reading in English “CALL SERVICE NO PLUGS AVAILABLE” before new screens show additional messages in Russian: “GLORY TO UKRAINE / GLORY TO THE HEROES / PUTIN IS A DICKHEAD / DEATH TO THE ENEMY.”

The phrase translated as “Putin is a dickhead” became a popular slogan in Ukraine following the 2014 Russian invasion, particularly among soccer fans in Kharkiv.