Ukraine's air raid app hacked, sending fake radiation warnings to millions

Ukraine’s national air raid alert system was hacked on Sunday, sending false radiation and nuclear warnings to users across the country.

The breach began at approximately 22:47 local time on Sunday, when the app issued red-level air raid alerts nationwide. Within minutes, users in the capital, Kyiv, received specific messages declaring a radiation threat. A subsequent alert at 22:48, written in Russian, informed users that a nuclear alert was active and referenced the Oreshnik missile system. By 22:49, additional warnings for chemical threats and street fighting appeared on screens across the city. At 23:53, a series of all-clear messages were delivered, individually canceling each of the previous alerts.

The Ukrainian Air Force stated that the application had been subjected to hostile interference. The Central Intelligence Agency of Ukraine reported a failure in the app and advised the public to use other official sources to verify threat levels. The Ministry of Digital Transformation, which supports the app, temporarily disabled the service for maintenance after confirming it was compromised. The ministry urged residents to enable emergency notifications on their smartphones to receive state-issued distress signals directly from their devices.

Regional officials moved quickly to reassure their constituents. Svitlana Onyshchuk, the governor of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, posted on Telegram that the region was calm despite the app reporting a red-level alert between 22:50 and 23:57. Natalya Zabolotna, the head of the Vinnytsia region, confirmed a cyberattack and warned users not to click on links within the messages to avoid phishing attempts. In the Lviv region, the radiation hazard signal played on public loudspeakers due to the app malfunction, though officials confirmed no actual threat existed.

The incident occurred just minutes before the expiration of a localized ceasefire in the Kherson region, which had been in effect since Tuesday to allow civilians to evacuate the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky. The ceasefire officially ended at 23:00 Sunday, coinciding with the timing of the false alerts. The disruption comes as Russia maintains the world's largest nuclear arsenal, with President Vladimir Putin frequently suggesting openness to using all available weapons.

Hours after the Ukrainian breach, Russian authorities announced their own emergency app was hacked. The Russian ministry of emergency situations described the event as a massive cyberattack that sent fake information to the public. A Ukrainian partisan group operating inside Russian-held territory, identified as Atesh, claimed responsibility for sending false warnings of nuclear strikes to Russian users. A screenshot shared by the group advised citizens to stock provisions for three weeks and take shelter in basements, though the image has not been independently verified.

The Air Alert application is a primary tool for the Ukrainian public, providing instant updates on the start and end of defense alerts. The Ministry of Digital Transformation emphasized that the app remains a critical component of the country's civil defense infrastructure. The Centre for Countering Disinformation advised citizens to rely on sirens and official social media channels if the app is unavailable in the future.