Ukraine and Russia report hacks of civilian alert apps, with false warnings sent to the public

Ukraine's national Air Alert (Povitryana Tryvoha) app sent false radiation, chemical and street-fighting warnings to users shortly before 21:50 CET on Sunday 1 November (about 22:50 in Kyiv). From about 00:45 CET on Monday 2 November (02:45 in Moscow), Russia's Emergencies Ministry (MChS) said its mobile app had suffered "a massive cyberattack". False messages had claimed that nuclear warheads were launched at all regions of Russia.

The situation is still developing. All times here are CET. Kyiv is one hour ahead and Moscow two.

The Ukrainian incident came shortly before a local truce around Russian-occupied Oleshky, in Kherson region, expired. A pause on the lower Dnipro was arranged to evacuate civilians and deliver aid. It ran from 27 October to 1 November, and the BBC says it ended at 22:00 CET. The sources document the timing but establish no link.

Ukraine: what officials said

The BBC reported the sequence in Kyiv time. At 22:47 came a Ukrainian-language "Radiation threat" for Kyiv. At 22:48 a Russian-language message said: "Don't worry, it's Oreshnik flying" (the Oreshnik is a Russian hypersonic missile). At 22:49 came a chemical-attack warning and a street-fighting warning. The Russian-language messages carried a link to a Telegram channel.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram at 22:02 CET that the app "appears to have been subjected to enemy influence". It added: "There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel." Spokesman Yurii Ihnat said that, according to Air Force data, the app had been hacked. The Digital Transformation Ministry said sirens and other alert channels were working. Vinnytsia governor Natalia Zabolotna wrote: "Cyberattack on the 'Air Alert' app. Do not click on the link in the message."

The Centre for Strategic Communications (SPRAVDI) blamed Russia in a post on X. That is a Ukrainian government attribution, not independently established. At 00:52 CET the app team said push alerts and the threat-level map were partly restored. It called the incident unauthorised third-party interference.

Russia: what the ministry said

Russian reports said identical messages appeared in the MChS app and on regional civil-defence channels. According to the Orenburg regional branch of the Russian emergency ministry (MChS), the false message urged people to stock up on food for three weeks and move to a basement. The BBC's live page quoted the message as saying warheads mounted on P1-Suns, a Ukrainian interceptor drone, had been launched. Reports named regions including Moscow, St Petersburg, Chelyabinsk and Belgorod. The New Voice of Ukraine reported that officials in Kamchatka dismissed the alerts as a hoax.

The ministry said, via TASS and Telegram, that specialists were working to "eliminate the vulnerability". The Independent reported that the ministry also said the public alert system was "operating as normal" and the app was "only an additional, ancillary news service". The ministry named no culprit.

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What to watch

Both governments stressed that sirens and the main warning systems were unaffected. The cost of false alarms lies in trust.

Five things will show where this goes: any formal attribution, a technical account of the intrusions, full restoration of both apps, what follows the end of the Oleshky truce, and whether the US-mediated talks due this month go ahead.