4 Russian Spies Try To Hack Nuclear Plant, Electrical Companies In Attempt To Disrupt Global Energy Production, US Prosecutors Claim

In the United States, four Russian hackers were charged with hacking a Kansas nuclear power plant, a Saudi oil refinery, and other institutions throughout the world.

According to Justice Department authorities, three of the individuals indicted worked for the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, and another for the Russian Defense Ministry's research and development arm.

Russian Spies Indicted in Worldwide Hacks

The two indictments alleged that the men targeted hundreds of firms in 135 countries over a six-year period. Russian spies attacked an electrical firm in Topeka, Kansas, the Wolf Creek nuclear reactor in Kansas, and the Saudi Arabian oil refinery Petro Rabigh on the Red Sea, which is part of a joint venture between Japan and the Arab Kingdom, between 2012 and 2018.

According to the accusation, computer programmer Evgeny Gladkikh, 36, broke into the Petro Rabigh in Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea, compromising the gas plant's computer system, installing the 'Trinton' computer virus, and forcing two consecutive emergency refinery shutdowns.

The two-phased plot reportedly took place between 2012 and 2017, with targets including the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an unspecified renewable energy facility in New York, and Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp. in Kansas, where the spies were indicted in August by a grand jury.

Per Daily Mail, prosecutors believe that other firms targeted by Russian government agents were based in the United Kingdom, Canada, China, France, and Germany. The Department of Justice is focused on "its mandate to preserve the safety and security of our nation," according to Duston Slinkard, US Attorney for the District of Kansas.

The trio is charged with a bevy of counts, including conspiracy to conduct wire fraud, which carries a potential penalty of 20 years in prison. Other accusations against Akulov and Gavrilov include identity theft, according to the DOJ.

US Warns Large-Scale Cyber Attacks Amid Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The indictments were made public as Russia's continuing invasion of Ukraine further isolates Ukraine diplomatically. As Russia feels the pinch of economic sanctions imposed as a result of the war, the US has warned that large-scale cyberattacks are a possibility, NY Post reported.

Evgeny Viktorovich Gladkikh, a Russian national who hacked into networks with the goal of undermining the safety of energy plants, was charged in a second indictment unsealed Thursday in Washington, DC. Gladkikh used malware to hack into Schnieder Electric's networks in 2012 with the goal of stopping plant safety measures from working, according to the indictment.

As a result of the installation, the refinery was forced to shut down automatically. Gladkikh and others later studied additional sites and attempted to get into the refineries of an unidentified US energy business, according to the DOJ.

Per Fox News, several analysts said earlier this month that the facility is home to Russian diplomats, many of whom serve in the US as intelligence officials - or intelligence "operatives," as the Russians term them - and seek information or contacts that the federation may require.

According to Robin Dreeke, a retired FBI special agent and former head of the bureau's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, most Russian intelligence officers - those who work for the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) or the federation's military intelligence agency, known as the GRU - live in the building, which is known to some law enforcement officers as the "plex."