Ukraine and Russia said their emergency alert apps had been hacked overnight, sending false warnings to citizens about impending air raids and chemical and nuclear attacks.
The warnings coincided with the expiry of a six-day local ceasefire brokered by US first lady Melania Trump in a small area of southern Ukraine – the longest such pause in fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ukraine’s public air raid app started to send false alerts just before 11pm yesterday for the capital Kyiv and other areas, warning of radiation and chemical attacks and also the risk of street combat in some areas.
Hours later, Russian state news agency TASS quoted the Emergencies Ministry in Moscow as saying that its own mobile app had also been hit by a cyberattack that resulted in fake public warnings being transmitted.
Reuters was unable to verify which groups were responsible. Experts have linked previous cyber security incidents during the almost five-year-old war to activist hackers as well as intelligence agencies on both sides.
In Ukraine, one of the alarms said Russia had launched a hypersonic Oreshnik missile – which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead – and that a nuclear alert had been declared.
Ukraine’s air force said shortly after on the Telegram messaging app that the alert system appeared to have been hacked by Russia, noting that the alerts were broadcast in Russian. The Ukrainian language is compulsory for all official communications in Ukraine.
“The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence,” the air force said. “There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!”
All-clear messages were sent shortly afterwards for each alert and Ukraine’s Ministry for Digital Transformation said the app had been temporarily suspended, but other means of alerting the public were functioning, as were air raid sirens.
Ukraine is suffering from a critical lack of air defences, particularly US-made Patriot interceptors.
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