DDoS Attacks Delay Putin Speech at Russian Economic Forum

Billed as the "Russian Davos," the St. Petersburg Economic Forum was stalled on Friday by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, delaying a speech from Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than an hour.

The attack was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who told Reuters that the admissions and accreditation systems were shut down by the DDoS attack. He did not place blame on any specific individual or group, but as Reuters reported, the "situation in Ukraine loomed large."

About 100 minutes after its scheduled start time, Reuters reported that Putin gave his remarks and lashed out at the West's sanctions put in place following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he called a "blitzkrieg" on his country's economy.