Ukrainian and Russian air-raid alert apps hacked as Kherson truce ends
Ukraine’s air-raid alert app sent fake warnings of nuclear and chemical threats around Kyiv on Sunday evening, including a false report that the Oreshnik hypersonic missile had been launched. Hours later Moscow said its own emergencies app had suffered a “massive cyberattack”. Both followed the end of the localised ceasefire in occupied Kherson, the longest of the war.
“The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence,” the Ukrainian Air Force said. “There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel.” Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications blamed Russia; Moscow’s Emergencies Ministry named no culprit. The app is used across Ukraine for real-time warnings, so tampering with it is more than a nuisance: it trains people to doubt the one signal that tells them to take shelter. A separate app for the capital worked normally. The Kherson ceasefire, which began on Tuesday and ended on Sunday, was the longest of the war; whether fighting there resumes at full intensity is the next indicator.