Ukraine air raid alert app hacked, fake nuclear warnings flash across Kyiv

The app for a short time showed Kyiv and other areas subject to nuclear and chemical alerts and the threat of street combat. An erroneous message said Russia's hypersonic Oreshnik missile had been deployed.

In Short

• Ukraine's air raid alert app was hacked on Sunday
• False alerts included nuclear, chemical threats and street fighting
• Ukraine says no radiation threat, urges calm and updates

Ukraine's Air Force said on Sunday that the public air raid alert app had been hacked. The app for a short time showed Kyiv and other areas subject to nuclear and chemical alerts and the threat of street combat.

An erroneous message said Russia's hypersonic Oreshnik missile had been deployed.

"The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence," the air force said on Telegram. "There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!"

The abnormality later disappeared.

Ukraine's Ministry for Digital Transformation said the app was not in operation, but other means of alerting the public were functioning, as were air raid sirens.

In a separate event, the mobile app of Russia's emergencies ministry was hit by a massive cyberattack that resulted in the spread of false information to the public, state news agency TASS quoted the ministry as saying early on Monday.

It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents were linked.

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