Hacker collective Anonymous has disabled several Russian government websites including the state-controlled Russia Today news service, ABC reports.

Hackers identifying with the Anonymous collective announced they had launched cyber operations that briefly took down RT.com, as well as the websites of the Kremlin, the Russian government and the Russian defense ministry websites.

RT.com confirmed the attack took place, saying it slowed some websites down while taking others offline for "extended periods of time".

RT's coverage of the situation in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly from a pro-Russian perspective, showing fireworks and cheerful celebrations in the newly occupied territories.

In the UK, MPs said the TV channel is Russian President Vladimir Putin's "personal propaganda tool" and should be banned.

An Anonymous video posted on February 15 threatened to take Russia's industrial control systems "hostage" if the Ukraine crisis escalated.

Escalation includes the possibility of a Russian cyber attack on the US.

In January, a US government intelligence brief warned that Russia "would consider" a potentially devastating cyber attack against the US if NATO intervened to defend Ukraine.

Security experts have also warned Russian-linked criminal gangs may be encouraged to target Australia with cyber attacks.

Earlier this week, Russian cyber forces mounted DDoS attacks on the websites of several Ukrainian banks and government departments.

The government of Ukraine has asked volunteers from the "hacker underground" to help protect critical infrastructure and spy on Russian troops.

In recent days, there have been several cyber attacks against website of the Polish government.