Russia's national carrier, Aeroflot, was hit by a massive cyberattack that disrupted over 100 flights. According to a media report on Tuesday, the full restoration of its IT system may take up to a year. Aeroflot came under an unprecedented cyberattack by two hacker groups on Monday. "On average, recovery from a large-scale cyberattack can take anywhere from several weeks to six months," Russian daily Kommersant quoted an information security expert as saying.
However, in Aeroflot’s case, the damage appears to be more severe. While the recovery of some of Aeroflot’s IT systems following the massive cyberattack may take up to two months, complete restoration could extend as long as one year, the daily reported on Tuesday, citing experts.
The large-scale cyber intrusion led to the cancellation of over a hundred flights, forcing the airline to allocate additional resources at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport to stabilize its operations. The Russian Office of the Prosecutor General is overseeing the criminal investigation into the incident.
Hackers behind the attack
Two hacker groups—the Belarus-linked ‘Kiberpartizani BY’ and ‘Silent Crow’, which had previously leaked personal data of 101,000 individuals in January 2025—have claimed responsibility for the cyberattack.
The full extent of the damage remains unclear, but analysts warned of not only direct financial losses and infrastructure recovery costs but also the possibility of regulatory sanctions, given Aeroflot’s status as a "strategic state company with critical infrastructure facilities," the report said.
Aeroflot had managed to regain partial control of its systems by Monday evening. The airline’s flight to Delhi reportedly departed with a slight delay but arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on time.
Previous attacks
It is one of the most disruptive cyberattacks to hit Russia since the start of the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Previous attacks have targeted Russian government websites and other major Russian companies—notably the state-owned Russian Railways—but normal services have typically resumed within hours.
Images shared on social media showed hundreds of delayed passengers crowding Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where Aeroflot is based. The outage also disrupted flights operated by Aeroflot's subsidiaries, Rossiya and Pobeda.
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