A cyber attack on Russian communication systems by anonymous hackers on early Saturday morning has compromised India's defense dealings with Russia and raised serious concerns about a possible major security breach.
Believed to have been carried out by an international group of anonymous hackers in retaliation to the last week's Russian invasion of Ukraine, the attack was detected by Indian technical intelligence agencies at about 4am on Saturday.
Most of the leaked documents relate to India's dealings with Russia for the purchase, overhaul and repair of front-line fighter aircraft like the Sukhoi-30 MKI and the MiG-29.
They include correspondence between Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which makes the SU-30 and MiG-29 among other aircraft, and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which manufactures the aircraft under license in India.
Several letters written by UAC president M Pogosyan to HAL chairman RK Tyagi refer to a host of issues discussed during the 31st session of Indo-Russian Subgroup on Aviation (IRSA) held in New Delhi on February 20 this year. The IRSA is a sub-group of the Indo-Russian Inter Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation.
Some of these letters discuss the delays in finalizing a contract between UAC and HAL for the RD-33 MK engines, which power the MiG-29 fighter aircraft.
There is also a great deal of discussion in setting up Repair and Over Haul (ROH) facilities for the SU-30 MKI, which has been delayed due to indecision on the deputation of Russian specialists. Pogosyan admits that the delays are due to the disagreements between Russia and India on the "financial aspect of reimbursement rates for 2014".