Russia and Ukraine have reported cyberattacks against emergency warning services, with fake alerts sent to people in both countries warning of radiation threats and nuclear attacks. The false messages caused panic for some time. Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said its alert applications had faced a large-scale cyberattack, while maintaining that the country’s public warning system remained operational. Ukraine’s air raid warning app had also been hacked earlier.
Fake alerts cause public alarm
The incidents involved messages that appeared to warn citizens of serious dangers. Among the false alerts were warnings about radiation and nuclear attacks - threats likely to prompt urgent concern when received through emergency communication channels. The reports say the messages caused panic for some time, but do not establish how many people received them or how widely they circulated.
Emergency alert applications and warning systems are intended to deliver important information to the public. When false messages appear through those channels, people may have difficulty knowing whether a warning is genuine. In this case, the alerts were reported as fake, and the information available does not identify who sent them or explain how the attackers gained access to the services.
The incidents have been reported in both Russia and Ukraine, but the accounts describe different systems and timings. Russia’s emergency ministry said its alert applications had come under attack. Ukraine’s air raid warning application had been hacked earlier, according to the report. The information provided does not give a precise date for the Russian attack or further details about the earlier incident in Ukraine.
Russia says public warning system remained operational
Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations described the attack on its alert applications as large-scale. At the same time, it said the public warning system remained operational. The ministry’s statement distinguishes between the affected alert applications and the broader warning system, and does not say that the country’s emergency warning capability was shut down.
The report does not provide technical details about the disruption, including how the fake messages were sent, which specific applications were affected or how long the incident lasted. Nor does it identify a suspected group or attribute the attacks to either country. The claims about the incidents therefore remain limited to the reported attacks and the official statement from Russia’s emergency ministry.
Ukraine’s air raid app was targeted earlier
Ukraine’s air raid warning app had also been hacked earlier, according to the account. The summary does not provide details about the messages involved in that incident or describe the impact on the app. It does, however, place the reported hacking alongside the false alerts in Russia as part of a wider pattern of attacks targeting services used to warn the public.
The reported episodes underline how the misuse of emergency communication channels can create uncertainty as well as alarm. False warnings about radiation or nuclear attacks can make it harder for people to assess urgent messages, particularly when the alerts appear to come from systems intended for public safety. In the incidents described, however, the available information does not establish the attackers’ identities, their methods or any lasting effect on either country’s warning services.
