Fake alerts warn of nuclear attack after Ukraine and Russian systems hacked

Ukraine and Russia both reported cyber attacks on their public alert apps overnight, leading to fake announcements of air raids, nuclear attack and street fights.

The alerts were cancelled within hours and clarifications issued, but led to concern among residents who received the messages.

It was not clear who carried out the attack, or if the two incidents were linked.

Ukraine's air raid ⁠alert app, which usually warns of incoming drone or missiles, ⁠showed Kyiv under attack, with an erroneous message ​saying ⁠Russia's hypersonic ‌Oreshnik missile had been deployed.

An alert had read: “Hi! There will be a nuclear alert across Ukraine. Don't worry, it's Oreshnik flying.” Another warned people not to go outside as there was a threat of chemical attack in Kyiv

“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!”

Ukraine's Ministry for Digital Transformation said the app was no longer in operation, but other means of alerting the public were functioning, as ​were air raid sirens.

The country's Centre for Strategic Communications asked residents to disregard “strange messages”.

Oleksander Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told the BBC that Ukrainians were used to “practically non-stop alerts”, but suspicions had been aroused because the messages were in Russian.

“It's a very unpleasant fact but it is part of cyber war and people in Ukraine understand that,” he said.

Show caption: A woman walks on a street covered with an anti-drone net, am…

The mobile ​app of Russia's Ministry of Emergencies was ​hit ‌by a cyberattack that resulted ⁠in the spread of false information to ⁠the public, state news agency Tass said. It stressed that citizens should take their information from TV and radio broadcasts, text messages and loudspeakers.

The fake alert had said “nuclear warheads mounted on P1-Suns [a Ukrainian attack drone] had been launched at all regions of Russia”.

The alerts occurred shortly before the end of a localised six-day ceasefire in the Kherson region, which had been reached after mediation efforts by US first lady Melania Trump and with the involvement of Pope Leo.

The ceasefire in the town of Oleshky expired at midnight Moscow time. There was no immediate indication of any resumption of hostilities by either side.

It was the longest local pause in fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion in ⁠February 2022.

Ms Trump, writing on X, said the ceasefire “has provided residents with the freedom to move, access to food, clean water, medicine, plus a renewed sense of dignity ​without the constant threat of attack”.

Russian forces took control of the town immediately after the 2022 invasion, but Ukrainian troops recaptured much of the region, including the town of Kherson, later that year.

Meanwhile, the ​Russian ⁠military struck ⁠a military facility ​in the ⁠Odesa region of Ukraine and ⁠hit a cargo vessel ​used ⁠for ‌military ​purposes 58km south of the Black Sea port city of Odesa, the Russian defence ministry said on ​Telegram ‌on ⁠Monday.

An official ​in ​Odesa ‌separately said ⁠on Telegram that ⁠a Russian attack injured four people.