Ukraine and Russia report fake emergency alerts after cyberattack targets apps

Authorities in Ukraine and Russia say their emergency alert mobile apps were targeted by cyberattacks late Sunday, with users in Ukraine receiving false warnings of dangerously high radiation levels in the capital, Kyiv, and messages that nuclear warheads had been launched.

In a Telegram post late Sunday, local time, Ukraine’s air raid alert channel said “unauthorized parties” had interfered with the app’s operation and that the service had been temporarily suspended. It warned users not to click on links in “suspicious notifications.”

Authorities in Ukraine said the app, which Ukrainians rely on to seek safety amid daily Russian missile and drone strikes, was restored overnight. The alerts — making false claims of high radiation levels, a chemical threat and public disturbances in Kyiv — were written in English with spelling and grammatical errors as well as in a mix of Russian and Ukrainian.

Another message, written in Russian instead of Ukrainian, which is mandatory in official communications, was sent shortly before 11pm local time (9pm GMT), warning of a nuclear attack involving an Oreshnik missile, according to Metro.

The Sun reported that a similar message was sent through Russian emergency apps ordering Russians to stockpile food and hide in their cellars or face being “blown to bits” by bombs around 2.45am Monday morning.

One of the false posts mentioned the hacking group Hitcore. Mash, a Russian Telegram channel with links to the security services, said it had spoken to representatives of Hitcore and that they had claimed responsibility for the attack. That claim could not be independently verified.

Ukraine’s state-run Centre for Countering Disinformation reported the breach and urged users to monitor emergency channels on social media and rely on physical alerts while the cyberattack was being addressed.

Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s air force command, said the cyberattack had no impact on Ukraine’s security and defence operations because the app is separate from military command systems.

Ihnat told Ukraine’s private 1+1 television that the air force continues to report real-time threats through independent communication channels, including popular social media platforms.

In Russia, officials said Monday that hackers had sent fake emergency alerts after gaining access to the Russian Emergency Ministry’s mobile app.

The ministry did not name who carried out the attack. In a statement, it reassured Russians that the wider public alert system was working normally, and that the mobile app acted as a supplementary service alongside alerts shared through SMS messages, media broadcasts and municipal sirens and loudspeakers.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that all of Russia’s state agencies were under the constant threat of cyberattacks, including a growing number that use artificial intelligence.

“All government bodies must take steps to improve the cybersecurity of our digital resources,” Peskov said.

Limited ceasefire ends in Kherson region

Ukrainian authorities in the war-divided Kherson region reported multiple Russian drone attacks early Monday, hours after a humanitarian ceasefire expired.

The regional administration said a 62-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man were hospitalized with blast injuries in the city of Kherson, across the Dnipro River from Russian-occupied territory.

The localized ceasefire ended at midnight at the start of Monday. The brief pause in fighting was tied to a humanitarian aid mission in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.

The ceasefire, which began October 27, marked the most significant truce between Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began nearly five years ago.

The White House said US first lady Melania Trump helped broker the limited truce. Civilian negotiators from Russia and Ukraine also helped secure the pause, which allowed besieged residents of Oleshky to be evacuated in a rare joint operation that ended Saturday.

An estimated 2,000 civilians were in Oleshky when the temporary truce took effect. They could evacuate to territory controlled by either Ukraine or Russia, or remain in the city with replenished food and medical supplies. Exact evacuation totals were withheld to protect those who stayed.

Ukraine’s general staff said Monday that Russia’s military had bolstered its drone defences and replenished ammunition supplies in the area during the ceasefire.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, emergency services reported that drone strikes injured 12 people in the eastern Kharkiv region and damaged a refrigeration facility, greenhouses and residential buildings.

Five people were also reported injured in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, where a warehouse was targeted and homes were damaged.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Monday that it had shot down 212 Ukrainian drones overnight, while the head of Russia’s Samara region, Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said in a statement that local air defences were repelling an aerial attack, but did not give further details.

Independent Russian media outlets later reported that Ukrainian drones had targeted one of Europe’s largest oil transport hubs in Russia’s Samara region.