Millions of Ukrainians and Russians received false nuclear attack warnings on Sunday through their official alert applications, with both sides attributing the incidents to cyberattacks.
Ukraine's air raid alert app, used by 6.7 million people, was the first to be compromised. The app sent messages in Ukrainian just before midnight warning of a 'radiation threat in Kyiv.' A follow-up message in Russian stated: 'There will be a nuclear alert across Ukraine. Don't worry, it's Oreshnik flying.' The Oreshnik is considered one of Russia's most powerful intermediate-range ballistic missiles, capable of traveling at roughly 10 times the speed of sound and carrying nuclear warheads.
Hours later, Russia's emergency ministry app was subjected to a 'massive cyberattack' that sent false information to the public. Regional air raid alert Telegram channels run by the ministry issued nonsensical warnings filled with vulgarities, including messages referring to 'P1-Sun carriers'—described as small Ukrainian interceptor quadcopters sending nuclear warheads to Russia—and urging Russians to stockpile three weeks' worth of food at home.
Ukrainian officials and SPRAVDI, Ukraine's center for strategic communications, blamed Russia for the fake messages posted on X, telling the public to disregard strange messages in the app. The Ukrainian air force's Telegram channel later stated there was 'no radiation threat' and that its app had likely been compromised.
Russia has not officially accused any party of the cyberattacks. Both Ukraine and Russia have waged cyberattack campaigns against each other throughout the ongoing war, disrupting public alert services and causing false warnings. A similar incident occurred in Russia in February 2023 when multiple radio stations broadcast fake air raid and missile alerts.
The dual cyberoperations highlight the vulnerability of digital emergency alert systems to malicious actors during armed conflict and the challenges of maintaining information integrity in the information space during warfare.
