Ukraine and Russia Report Hacked Emergency Alert Apps, Sending False Nuclear and Chemical Warnings
Ukraine and Russia both reported that their mobile emergency warning apps were hacked overnight on November 1 and 2, 2026, and each side accused the other of interfering with its systems. In Kyiv, residents received a series of false air-raid alerts late on Sunday night, over roughly an hour.
At 22:47, one alert stated: "Radiation threat. Radiation threat declared in Kyiv." At 22:48, a message written in Russian said there would be a nuclear alert across Ukraine and added: "Don't worry, it's Oreshnik flying." Two more alerts followed at 22:49. One warned of a chemical threat, saying: "There is a threat of a chemical attack on Kyiv. Don't go outside." The other warned of street fighting in the city. An all-clear message was sent at 23:53.
Ukrainian authorities said on Telegram, a messaging app, within the hour that they believed the air-raid app had been compromised. The air-raid alert channel said "unauthorised parties" had interfered with the system, which had been temporarily taken offline. It urged users not to click on links in "suspicious notifications." Ukraine's Air Force said on Telegram that the Air Alarm application had probably been subjected to hostile interference and that there was no radiation threat.
Russian authorities said their warning app had also been hacked and had to be taken offline. A Ukrainian hacker group claimed to have sent fake alerts warning of nuclear warheads to users of the Russian app. Ukrainian news outlet UNN, citing the partisan Ukrainian group Atesh, reported that the hack had sent fake alerts of a nuclear threat inside Russia.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry, known as EMERCOM, published a bulletin at 10:00 on November 2 stating that the population warning system was functioning normally.
Reuters reported on November 1 that Ukraine said its public air-raid alert app had sent false alerts after being hacked. Al Jazeera reported that the cyberattacks on the Russian and Ukrainian apps occurred after a truce ended. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of hacking the emergency alert systems.
