“Where they are from and why they have carried out the attack is secondary to the harm being caused right now to patients and hospital staff,” she added.

The hack has led to more than 1,000 operations and appointments being postponed and a critical incident being declared.

“Yes we know about the situation,” the hackers said, speaking in broken English.

“We are very sorry for the people who were suffered because of it. Herewith we don’t consider ourselves guilty and we ask you don’t blame us in this situation.”

The hackers said the UK government should be blamed as they were not helping in the unspecified war.

The gang, which is thought to be based in Russia, like many ransomware crews, would not say where it was.

It said the UK government “don’t even put a penny on the lives of those who fight on the front edge of free world”, which is reminiscent of language used to describe Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

But it might also refer to Russian troops fighting against Ukraine.

The group says it chose to attack blood test firm Synnovis, which is used by two London NHS trusts, deliberately.

“Our citizens are dying in unequal combat from a lack of medicines and donor blood”, it said.

Researchers have previously said, external Qilin posted adverts for hackers to join its criminal service in Russian.

It would be unusual but not unprecedented for Qilin hackers to be in Ukraine, which has seen many alleged ransomware hackers arrested in recent months.

It is very rare for hackers to be arrested in Russia as the government there refuses to co-operate with Western law enforcement requests.

Qilin refused to be more specific about its political allegiance or geography “for security reasons”.

This is the first time that the crew has claimed to have a political motive for its hacks – Qilin has been tracked since 2022 in which time it has carried out criminal hacks against schools, hospitals, companies, councils and healthcare organisations.