Ukraine, Russia Hit by Hacks Sending Fake Nuclear Attack Alerts

Ukraine’s Air Alert app and Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry app were both hacked within hours of each other on Nov. 1–2, sending users fake warnings of nuclear attacks, chemical threats and even street fighting in Kyiv. The first breach targeted Ukraine’s official Air Alert app on the evening of Nov. 1. Users received false warnings about radiological and chemical hazards, as well as an alleged threat of street battles in the capital.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. One notification, sent in Russian, read: “Hi! There will be a nuclear alert across Ukraine now. Don’t worry, Oreshnik is on its way.” The app subsequently became temporarily unavailable. Ukraine’s Air Force dismissed the warnings as false, reporting “hostile interference” with the service. The Center for Countering Disinformation urged users not to follow third-party links or spread unverified information. The app’s developers said they were working to restore the service. Hours later, the hackers turned their attention to Russia. The country’s Emergency Situations Ministry reported a “massive attack” on its mobile app after users began receiving push notifications in the early hours of Nov. 2 warning that nuclear warheads had been launched toward every region of Russia. Other Topics of Interest Zelensky: Ready to Meet Putin in Turkey, Rules Out Concessions Kyiv says no deal on ending the war can be reached without Ukraine, as Trump considers inviting Zelensky to the December G20 summit in Miami. The fake alerts claimed the warheads were carried by P1-SUN systems – Ukrainian-made FPV interceptor drones developed by defense company SkyFall to take down Shahed-type drones and cruise missiles. Users were instructed to stockpile three weeks’ worth of food and seek shelter in basements. The warnings soon spread beyond the mobile app, appearing on regional Emergency Situations Ministry channels on Russia’s state-backed messaging platform Max. Notifications were reported in St. Petersburg and the Moscow, Belgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions, among others. A similar warning also appeared on the Telegram channel of the Belgorod region’s operational headquarters. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said it was working to fix a “vulnerability in the mobile application” and restore normal service. “The situation is under control. We urge the public to remain calm and trust only official sources of information,” the ministry said, directing users to its website and official social media accounts. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.