Hacked warning apps send fake nuclear and radiation alerts in Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of hacking the systems used to send emergency alerts to civilians, after apps in both countries pushed out false warnings on Sunday and Monday, Al Jazeera reported.

In Ukraine

• Late on Sunday, users of the Air Alert app received fake warnings of nuclear and chemical threats in and around Kyiv, as well as warnings of street fighting and a claim that Russia’s Oreshnik hypersonic missile had been deployed.
• “The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence,” Ukraine’s Air Force said on Telegram, adding: “There is no radiation threat!”

In Russia

• On Monday morning, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said its warning app had come under a “massive cyberattack” and had wrongly alerted users to imminent drone attacks. The ministry did not name a suspect.
• According to media reports cited by Al Jazeera, the messages claimed nuclear warheads had been launched at all Russian regions on Ukrainian drones and urged people to stock up on food for three weeks and hide.

Officials in both countries said the confusion was cleared up in under an hour. The incidents came as a local ceasefire around occupied Oleshky ended on Sunday. Overnight, Russia’s Defence Ministry said it intercepted 212 Ukrainian drones, while independent outlet Astra reported a strike on a Transneft oil-pumping hub in the Samara region, The Moscow Times wrote.