Eurovision fears grow as 'Russian group threatens to ruin Ukraine's chance of winning'

dailystar.co.uk:

Ukraine. In a bid to stop Ukraine from winning the accolade, Killnet cyber hackers are suggesting that they will stop support for Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra by immobilising online voting servers.Ukraine's entry this year is Kalush Orchestra, a folk-rap group that rose in popularity following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Feburary.Russia are now banned from Eurovision but in a post on Telegram featuring a Eurovision logo, Killnet wrote: 'You can’t vote online." The Sun reported that the group had said: "Perhaps our DDOS attack is to blame for everything."Kalush Orchestra went straight through to the semi-final on Tuesday, which is held in Turin, Italy.The song they are set to perform includes the line "I will always walk to you by broken roads" - a lyric that has become even more poignant, following the horrific destruction the country is currently facing.Oleh Psiuk, the group's founding member, said that winning the competition will 'increase morale' in Ukraine.He continued: "'For our country it is so important to have victories in all ways."A spokesperson for Eurovision has said: "Every year the Eurovision Song Contest voting system has a wide range of security measures in place to protect the audience participation from outside influences."This year is no different."ANSA news agency reported on Wednesday that Pro-Russian hackers attacked the websites of several Italian institutions, including the senate.According to ANSA, Killnet claimed the attack, which also targeted the National Health Institute (ISS) and the Automobile Club d'Italia, a national drivers' association.However, the websites affected were back up and running quickly, with Senate speaker Elisabetta Casellati tweeting that the hacker attack had.