08/20/2025
Hackers from the military movement of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars “Atesh” conducted a cyber operation against the Russian Federation. They “knocked down” a key Russian commodity exchange, through which up to 99% of organized trade in Russian resources, including oil, gas, and coal, takes place.
The work of the platform, which helps the Kremlin earn money for the war against Ukraine, has been temporarily suspended. Details were reported on the Telegram channel “Atesh”.
What is known about the attack on the Russian commodity exchange?
Atesh claims that the movement’s cyber specialists attacked the St. Petersburg International Commodity Exchange.
“Our specialists have disabled the key Kremlin commodity exchange, where the main resources of the Putin regime are traded. Spimex.com is the largest commodity exchange in the Russian Federation , through which 99% of the volumes of organized trading in oil and oil products, gas, coal, timber, metals, building materials and agricultural products are carried out. Today, this exchange is one of the pillars of the bloody Putin regime, which is waging war in Ukraine and killing its own citizens,” the movement noted.
The St. Petersburg Stock Exchange was established in May 2008 by order of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. It started with trading in petroleum products, and as of 2023, the exchange was structured into the following commodity sections and areas: petroleum products, oil, gas, energy, timber, chemicals, biological resources, and a futures market (derivatives market).
According to open source data, in 2024, 37 million tons of petroleum products (as well as certain categories of goods produced from oil and gas) worth 2.154 trillion rubles, 9.18 billion m³ of natural gas, 5.3 million cubic meters of timber, and 146 thousand tons of mineral fertilizers were sold on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange. In 2023 (as in previous years), every fourth ton of basic petroleum products (gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation gas, fuel oil) supplied to the domestic market of the Russian Federation was sold through the exchange.
According to the Russian state agency TASS, at the end of 2024, “net profit increased by 79%, to 6.797 billion rubles. At the same time, in 2024, a record amount of petroleum products was sold through this exchange – 37.192 million tons (20% more than a year earlier).
“Oil trading on the exchange increased by 4.8%, to 2.215 million tons, wood – by 9.8%, to 5.338 million cubic meters, sugar – by 77.7%, to 76.5 thousand tons. The volume of exchange trading in coal increased fivefold compared to 2023 – to 1.343 million tons. The total trading turnover in all sections of the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange in monetary terms amounted to 2.337 trillion rubles in 2024, which is 31.9% more than in 2023 ,” the propagandists reported.
It is the role that the aforementioned exchange plays in preserving the ability of Putin’s Russia to continue fighting against Ukraine that became the reason for attacking it, Atesh explained.
“We deliberately aimed our blow at the very heart of Putin’s economy. Millions of petrodollars pass through here every day, which are sent to the furnace of the Kremlin’s military machine. Today, this tap has stopped for a while. We continue to systematically attack the resource, and attempts to restore its operation are short-term,” the movement assured.
Trading was stopped
Atesh reported that trading on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange has been suspended, and it is inaccessible to 99% of its users. There have also been obvious disruptions in the work of personal accounts – it is impossible to log in there.
The hackers added that they are expanding their attack and are now targeting spimex.com, spimex.global, and cabinet.spimex.com, a closed section of the exchange intended for trading participants. There, they can access information about their accounts, transactions, reports, and other data related to participating in trading on the exchange.
“The so-called cyber security experts of the aforementioned resources are trying to counteract us, but they are simply blocking everything in a row, and first of all, access to their users,” the message says.
Previously, OBOZ.UA reported that “Atesh” had scouted an aircraft factory in Luhansk and revealed what the occupiers were trying to hide.
It was also reported that the occupiers were disbanding the medical unit in Sevastopol: “Atesh” explained what was happening.
Very nice!
What have we learned? ATESH also does hacking.
The war on the battlefield is only a small part of the wider war on mafia land.
Outstanding!!!🇺🇦💪