Ukraine’s air raid alert application was hacked on Sunday, sending users false warnings of radiation, chemical and nuclear threats in Kyiv, prompting authorities to urge residents to rely on official sources for information.
The Ukrainian Air Force warned on Telegram that the application had probably faced hostile interference, clarififying that there was no radiation threat in the capital.
“The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference. There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel,” the Air Force said.
The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency also reported a failure in the application and advised residents to consult other information sources to verify warnings about possible air strikes.
The alerts began when users received red-level air raid warnings across Ukraine. Additional notifications followed in Kyiv, with the first warning stating that a radiation threat had been declared in the capital.
A minute later, another notification, written in Russian, told users that a nuclear alert would be issued across Ukraine, adding, “Don’t worry, it’s Oreshnik flying”.
Later, the application issued a warning about a possible chemical attack on Kyiv, advising residents not to go outside. Another notification at the same time warned of street fighting in the capital and again urged people to remain indoors.
Then users began receiving all-clear messages corresponding to each of the earlier warnings, individually confirming that the reported threats had ended.
The Central Intelligence Agency stated that the radiation hazard signal had also played through loudspeaker systems in the Lviv region because of the application. It reiterated that there was no radiation threat.
Several regional officials also reported the apparent cyberattack and denied any local threat.
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Governor Svitlana Onyshchuk said that the region remained calm after the application issued a red-level air raid alert.
Vinnytsia regional head Natalya Zabolotna said the application had faced a cyberattack. She also warned residents against clicking links in the messages, saying they could be phishing attempts.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation, which supports the Air Alert application, said that it had temporarily disabled the service for maintenance after it was apparently compromised. The application normally informs users about the start and end of defence alerts.
Authorities advised residents to activate emergency notifications on their smartphones, pay attention to air raid sirens and follow official information channels if the application stopped working.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said that its own application had also suffered what it described as a “massive cyberattack” a few hours after the incident in Ukraine.
The attack had sent false information to the public, the ministry said, without providing further details.
The incidents took place minutes before a localised ceasefire in Ukraine’s frontline Kherson region expired on Sunday. The ceasefire, which began last Tuesday, allowed civilians to evacuate the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, while fighting continued in other areas.
