Ukrainian air raid alert app sends false warnings after being hacked

Ukraine's air force says the country's public air raid alert app has been hacked.For a short time the app showed false warnings that Kyiv and other areas faced nuclear, chemical and street combat threats."The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence," the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram. "There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!"The announcement came minutes after the end of the truce between Moscow and Kyiv in the eastern region of Kherson. The localised ceasefire on Tuesday, which was brokered by US first lady Melania Trump, was the longest of the war.In a post on its X account, Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications (SPRAVDI) blamed Russia for the hack.Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, with capital Kyiv coming under fire. (Reuters: Valentyn Ogirenko)The app is used across Ukraine to warn people in real time about air strikes from Russia. People often have only minutes to find shelter in the case of, for example, a ballistic missile attack."Currently, the information broadcast [on this application] about threat levels does not correspond to reality," the Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation warned in a statement.Ukraine's digital transformation ministry said the app was not operating, but other means of alerting the public were functioning, as were air raid sirens.Russian emergencies ministry's mobile app hit by cyber attackRussia's emergencies ministry mobile app was also hit by a massive cyber attack, state news agency TASS quoted the ministry as saying. It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents were linked.The ministry was working to restore the app, TASS said without providing additional details.Russia's emergencies ministry said the application was designed to warn people of incoming drone attacks and other threats.US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume this month, having been effectively frozen since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in February.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday, local time, his country would stop hitting Russian oil refineries — as US counterpart Donald Trump had demanded — if Washington provided Kyiv with powerful Patriot interceptor missiles.Reuters/AFP