Tuesday 3 November 2026
Hackers send fake nuclear attack warnings to phones in Ukraine and Russia on the same night
Emergency warning apps in Ukraine and Russia were hacked overnight Sunday into Monday, and people in both countries received false warnings of nuclear attacks, authorities in both countries said. Ukraine's Air Alert app began sending fake messages at about 10:47 p.m. Kyiv time on Sunday, claiming a radiation threat in Kyiv, a chemical attack and an incoming nuclear capable Oreshnik missile. About four hours later, Russia's emergencies ministry said its own app had been hit by a massive cyberattack, and a fake alert claiming nuclear warheads had been launched reached 33 of Russia's 89 regions. Air raid sirens and the main broadcast warning systems in both countries were not affected. No widespread panic was reported in Ukraine. Reuters said it could not verify which groups carried out either attack.
The Ukrainian messages gave themselves away. They were written in Russian, and some carried swear words. One read: "Hi! There will be a nuclear alert across Ukraine. Don't worry, it's Oreshnik flying." Ukraine's air force told the public on Telegram that the app appeared to have been subjected to enemy influence, that there was no radiation threat, and to follow its official channel. Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communication blamed Russia for the hack. The false alerts were lifted within about an hour, and the app's operators said they were restoring its functions in stages, with new yellow and red alert levels available on the map. The app, built with Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation and the security firm Ajax Systems, had recently been updated to show drone movements in real time, and millions of Ukrainians rely on it to decide when to take shelter.
The Russian message did not try to sound official either. It claimed that nuclear warheads on P1-SUN delivery systems had been launched across all regions of Russia, in language laced with profanity. The P1-SUN is a Ukrainian interceptor drone built to shoot down Russian attack drones, with a warhead of about 1.75 pounds and a range of just over 20 miles, far too small and too short ranged for the attack the message described. Russia's emergencies ministry said specialists had found the vulnerability the attackers used and that the app would be fully restored by the end of Monday. The pro Ukrainian group Atesh posted a screenshot of the Russian alert with the message that the ministry's app had been hacked, and a Kyiv based hacking community calling itself DC8044 said it carried out the Russian breach. Zelensky told the American broadcaster PBS on Monday that Ukraine's hacking of the Russian system was retaliation for the Russian attack on Ukraine's app. A pro war Russian blogger, Alexander Kots, called the exchange the first cyber shoot out in history. None of the claims of responsibility has been independently verified.
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