Civilian mobile alert networks in Ukraine transmitted fabricated emergency notifications on Sunday evening warning of radiation hazards, chemical contamination, and incoming hypersonic strikes in Kyiv and other regions. The breach prompted immediate public clarifications from defense authorities.
Between 22:47 and 22:54 Kyiv time on Sunday, a total of 122 unauthorized notifications were broadcast across nationwide channels, according to incident data. At 23:02 Kyiv time, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that the application was compromised, stating: "The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence. There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!"
Ukrainian officials emphasized that the incident affected only public notification software and did not compromise air defense operations. The Ministry of Digital Transformation confirmed that municipal sirens and alternate warning networks remained operational while the compromised application was temporarily disabled. Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications attributed the breach to Russian operatives, noting Russian-language text within the unauthorized messages.
Hours later, Russia's Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief announced that its own public warning software suffered an intrusion, stating: "The mobile application of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia has been subjected to a massive cyberattack, enabling attackers to send false information to the public."
Russian emergency authorities said sirens, television and radio broadcasts, and text alerts operated normally, noting the application serves as a secondary channel. The unauthorized messages sent to Russian phones reportedly claimed incoming nuclear strikes from drones and told residents to store three weeks of supplies.
Ukrainian parliamentary foreign affairs committee chair Oleksandr Merezhko addressed the subsequent attack on the Russian platform, stating: "In such cases we don't confirm or don't deny."
