Hackers send false nuclear warnings through Ukraine and Russia’s emergency apps
Ukraine’s Air Alert app sent false warnings of radiation, chemical danger and street fighting, including a fabricated alert about Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile. Hours later, Russia said its emergency app had also been hacked to send false nuclear warnings. Officials said wider public-alert systems remained operational; who carried out the attacks and whether they were connected is unclear.
Bottom line — Ukraine’s Air Alert app was gradually restored, while Russia said its app’s full functionality would return by the end of the day.
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Ukraine’s air force denied any radiation threat and urged residents to follow other official channels.
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Ukraine’s app operators said unauthorised parties interfered with the service and temporarily suspended it.
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Russia’s Emergencies Ministry described its app as a supplementary information service and said the wider alert system was unaffected.
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The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communications blamed Russia, but publicly available technical evidence has not established who was responsible.
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The false Ukrainian alerts arrived minutes before a six-day humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky expired.