Dutch political parties' websites attacked on EU election day, Russian hacking group claims responsibility.

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The websites of three Dutch political parties came under attack by a Russian hacking group as the Netherlands kicked off voting for the European elections, Dutch media reported on June 6. The Russian hacking group Hacknet claimed responsibility via a post on Telegram for the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. "We continue to attack the websites of the Netherlands and its parties," Hacknet claimed.

The attack meant the websites of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), as well as the far-right Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) and Forum voor Democratie (FvD), were temporarily inaccessible. "On Election Day, we consider this an attack on free, democratic elections. We are reporting this to the relevant authorities," CDA posted on X.

Before Hacknet claimed responsibility for the attack, far-right FvD party leader Thierry Baudet posted on X "Russians?" and a laughing emoji. "The whole team is working overtime to repel the attack," he said. The Netherlands is the first among the 27 EU member states to start voting for the European elections, with polling stations open on June 6.

The results are not announced before June 9, once citizens in other EU countries have had the chance to vote.

EU aid and accession talks: Why European elections matter for Ukraine

Starting on June 6, citizens of the European Union will head to the voting booths to elect the bloc's 720-member European Parliament.

The election, held between June 6 and June 9 and often downplayed as irrelevant by voters, will have a major impact on EU domestic and foreign policy, among