MOSCOW, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Ukrainian hackers released thousands of emails and other materials from a senior Kremlin official that appear to detail Russia's role in the 2014 rebel uprising in eastern Ukraine, among other information.
The hacker group, called CyberHunta, claims to have hacked Vladislav Y. Surkov's account, releasing thousands of emails that purportedly show direct financial and political connections with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. Surkov served as President Vladimir Putin's chief domestic political adviser and is now the top official overseeing Russia's Ukraine policy. The authenticity of each of the released documents have not been independently verified.
Russia has long denied a relationship with separatists, but several of the people who corresponded with Surkov confirmed to The New York Times their messages were released. If the leaked documents are authentic, they reinforce suspicions Surkov's role in establishing seperatist enclaves in the Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, denied the authenticity of the leaked emails, saying somebody "must have had to sweat quite a lot" to falsify so many documents.
The 1 gigabyte of hacked information also includes expense reports and a proposal for a press office in Donetsk to distribute propaganda.
