False nuclear warnings reach emergency alert users in Ukraine and Russia

Emergency warning apps in Ukraine and Russia sent false alerts to civilians on Sunday and Monday, including claims of nuclear threats, prompting officials to issue public corrections. The incidents raised concerns about the expanding use of cyberattacks and psychological warfare during Russia’s more than four-year war on Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Air Force said late Sunday that its Air Alert app, normally used to warn residents about incoming air attacks, had delivered fabricated notifications of nuclear and chemical dangers in Kyiv and surrounding areas. Other messages warned of possible street fighting and claimed Russia had deployed its hypersonic Oreshnik missile. The Air Force said the app appeared to have come under enemy influence and told the public there was no radiation threat.

Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications blamed Russia, citing Russian-language wording in one of the messages. The government said a separate warning app serving the capital continued to operate normally. Al Jazeera correspondent Audrey Macalpine, reporting from Kyiv, said the alerts arrived shortly after 10pm, or 20:00 GMT, and warnings also sounded over speakers in the city centre. Most residents realised within about half an hour that the warnings resulted from an apparent hacking attack, she reported.

On Monday morning, Russia’s Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief said its own warning app had experienced a large cyberattack and falsely alerted users to imminent drone strikes. The ministry did not identify a suspected perpetrator. According to media reports, the messages claimed Ukrainian P1-Sun drones carrying nuclear warheads had been launched towards every Russian region. They also urged people to seek shelter and gather enough food for three weeks.

The false alerts began on Sunday as a six-day local ceasefire ended in the Russian-occupied Kherson region. The United States said first lady Melania Trump had brokered the truce, the longest of the war so far. It allowed humanitarian assistance and evacuations in the Russian-occupied town of Olekshy. Macalpine reported that many Ukrainians expected fighting along the front lines to resume.

The incidents appear to be the first hacks of either country’s official alert apps, although cyberattacks have long featured in their conflict. Russian hackers previously targeted Ukrainian election systems, followed by government and banking websites in January 2022. Such operations intensified after Russia’s full-scale invasion the following month. In late 2023, the Russian hacking group Sandworm disabled the private Kyivstar telecommunications network, interrupting notifications for days.

Ukrainian groups have also carried out cyberattacks against Russia. The volunteer IT Army of Ukraine, established after the invasion, has reportedly targeted the Moscow Stock Exchange, power grids and government websites.

Radiation warnings carry particular significance in Ukraine because of the April 1986 Chornobyl disaster. The explosion released radioactive material that was detected as far away as Sweden. Scores died in the explosion, and thousands later developed serious health problems, including thyroid cancer. The evacuated town remains deserted.

Fighting around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear energy facility, has sustained fears of another disaster. Russia controls Enerhodar, where the plant stands, and both sides have attacked opposing positions in the region. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said a welder at the plant had been killed in a drone attack. Its director, Rafael Grossi, urged both sides to exercise “maximum military restraint”.