Ukraine war briefing Kyiv: False alerts hit warning app
Ukraine’s air force said the country’s air-raid alert app was likely hacked after it briefly sent false nuclear and chemical warnings, including in Kyiv…
Ukraine’s air force said the country’s air-raid warning app was likely hacked on Sunday, briefly sending false nuclear and chemical alerts to users in Kyiv and other areas. The alerts included a false warning about Russia’s Oreshnik missile, prompting officials to tell people there was no radiation threat.
The incident matters because the app is used across Ukraine to warn residents about air strikes. The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency said the app had failed and advised people to check other information sources about possible attacks.
“The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence,” Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram. It added: “There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!”
The false warnings were temporary. Ukraine’s air force said the alerts appeared for a short time, while the country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation said the app had been disabled temporarily for maintenance after it “apparently been compromised”.
Russia’s emergencies ministry later said its own mobile warning app had also been hit by a cyberattack. The ministry said the attack enabled false information to be sent to the public.
What did the false alerts say?
The messages included nuclear and chemical threat warnings for Kyiv, as well as an alert claiming street fighting was taking place in the city. A separate message said the Oreshnik missile was flying. The alerts were followed by all-clear messages.
The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency said the app also triggered a radiation warning over loudspeakers in the Lviv region, although there was no radiation hazard. Regional leaders also posted that there was no local threat. Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast governor Svitlana Onyshchuk said the region was calm, while Vinnytsia regional head Natalya Zabolotna warned users not to click a link in a message that could be a phishing attempt.
Officials urged people to rely on more than one channel if the app stops working. Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation advised residents to enable smartphone notifications, listen for sirens and read only official sources. The Ministry of Digital Transformation also urged residents to turn on emergency notifications so they could receive state-issued distress signals.
That guidance has an immediate practical effect: people may need to check sirens and official updates rather than treat an alert-app message as conclusive when the system is disrupted. False warnings can create confusion at the moment residents are trying to distinguish a real threat from a technical failure.
Russia’s statement came hours after the Ukrainian alerts. A Ukrainian espionage group claimed fake nuclear warnings had been sent to users inside Russia, but the Russian ministry did not provide further details.
Ceasefire ends in southern Kherson
The cyber incident coincided with the expiry of a temporary local ceasefire in southern Kherson. Ukraine’s military said it evacuated 167 people from the region on Sunday, two days after buses carried residents out of the Russian-held town of Oleshky.
The six-day ceasefire in Oleshky and nearby areas followed mediation efforts by US first lady Melania Trump, with Pope Leo involved. Neither side reported violations after the truce began. A Ukrainian lawmaker described it as the “biggest de-escalation since 2022”.
Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin urged residents to stay alert as the ceasefire ended and to “respond immediately to warnings about Russian attacks”. A Ukrainian military officer, speaking anonymously, said Russian forces had used the quiet period to bring in troops and ammunition and gather intelligence with surveillance drones. The officer warned that fighting could be “worse than before” when it resumed.
Ukraine has also resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries, according to Russian state media, which said Ukrainian long-range drones set fire to the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod oblast. The report followed a major strike against another refinery in Samara oblast, owned by Rosneft.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would stop attacking Russian refineries if Washington supplied Patriot interceptor missiles. Speaking to Fox News, he said: “We said that if you want us not to attack Russia’s refineries, they have not to attack our energy system. Another alternative, give us Patriot missiles, we will find money, not just aid.”
Zelenskyy said Kyiv would halt refinery attacks for one month if the United States provided the missile systems for the same period. The State Department said the Trump administration had approved the sale of 500 Patriots to Ukraine on Friday, but Zelenskyy warned deliveries could take years.
