Ukraine Air Alert App Hacked, Sending False Radiation and Street Fighting Warnings

Ukraine's public Air Alert app was hacked on Sunday night, sending false warnings of a radiation threat in Kyiv. The alerts began at about 22:47 Kyiv time, 20:47 GMT, on November 1, and within three minutes users had received four false messages covering radiation, a nuclear alert, a chemical attack and street fighting. Ukraine's Air Force said the app had probably been subjected to hostile interference and stressed that there was no radiation threat.

Four false alerts in three minutes

The first message read: "Radiation threat. Radiation threat declared in Kyiv." A second message followed at 22:48, written in Russian. It said a nuclear alert would be issued across Ukraine and referred to Russia's Oreshnik ballistic missile. At 22:49, two more alerts arrived. One warned of a chemical attack on Kyiv. The other warned of street fighting in Kyiv and told people not to go outside. The app also displayed warnings for Kharkiv covering a nuclear hazard, a chemical hazard and street fighting.

Air Force says there is no radiation threat

The Air Force moved quickly to correct the record. "The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference. There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel," it said on Telegram, in a statement reported by Reuters. Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat also confirmed to AFP that the app had been hacked.

The false messages reached beyond phone screens. In the western Lviv region, a radiation hazard signal was briefly played on loudspeakers because of the app, and authorities there said there was no radiation danger. In the Vinnytsia region, governor Natalya Zabolotna described the incident as a cyberattack on the app and warned residents not to click links in the messages.

App suspended after unauthorised interference

The team behind the app said third parties were responsible. "Third parties carried out unauthorised interference in the application's work. We have disabled push notifications and temporarily suspended the application," the team said. It added that the app does not store personal data. Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation said the threat level information shown in the app did not correspond to reality, and the strategic communications centre SPRAVDI blamed Russia for the hack.

The false alerts were cleared about an hour later. By midnight, the State Emergency Service said the nationwide warning system was functioning normally. The separate Kyiv Digital app, which serves the capital, was unaffected.

The Air Alert app was developed by Ajax Systems and Stfalcon with support from Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation. It warns users in real time of incoming Russian missile and drone attacks, which makes its reliability a matter of safety for people who rely on it to decide when to take shelter.