3/3/22, 12:24 PM Russian Electric Vehicle Chargers Hacked, Tell Users ‘PUTIN IS A DICKHEAD’

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Russian Electric Vehicle Chargers Hacked,

Tell Users ‘PUTIN IS A DICKHEAD’

The chargers no longer work and display a scrolling message reading “Glory to Ukraine / Glory to
the heroes”

By Aaron Gordon

February 28, 2022, 11:47am

CREDIT: INSTAGRAM USER OLEG_MOSKOVTSEV

https://www.vice.com/en/article/akvya5/russian-electric-vehicle-chargers-hacked-tell-users-putin-is-a-dickhead?fbclid=IwAR30APAJNJITDKXq4o25Fk5RM0mvxa0… 1/7
3/3/22, 12:24 PM Russian Electric Vehicle Chargers Hacked, Tell Users ‘PUTIN IS A DICKHEAD’

Electric vehicle charging stations along Russia’s M11 motorway, which stretches
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from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, are not working because a Ukrainian company
that provided parts for the chargers hacked them using a backdoor in the chargers’
control systems, according to a Facebook post by Russian energy company Rosseti. 

According to the post, the chargers were purchased through a Russian company
which had outsourced production to a Ukrainian parts supplier called
AutoEnterprise, a Kharkiv-based EV charging company. This morning, 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.  

It is not clear how many chargers are deactivated, for how long they were
displaying anti-Putin messages, or for how long the chargers will be unavailable. In
its statement, Rosseti said the chargers are being isolated from the rest of the grid
network and will be working again soon. 

Rosseti and AutoEnterprise did not immediately respond to a Motherboard request

for comment. 

TAGGED: UKRAINE,UKRAINE INVASION,WORLDNEWS,WORLD CONFLICT,EV CHARGER

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