Nuclear danger, radiation threat and street combat: Ukrainians received a wave of messages Sunday night that raised alarm with a series of grave — and baseless — warnings, NBC News reports.
Authorities said the country’s emergency alert application had been targeted in a cyberattack, and hours later Russia said its own alert system had also been hacked. The dueling accusations came just as a rare humanitarian ceasefire between the two sides ended, raising fears of intensified fighting rather than a move toward broader peace.
Residents in Ukraine have become used to the unsettling alerts that buzz their phones with news of incoming Russian missiles and drones — a service millions rely on to seek shelter before the attacks hit their cities. But the warnings Sunday night immediately stood out.
The messages, which began around 10:45 p.m. Kyiv time (3:45 p.m. ET), warned residents not to go outside because of radiation hazard, chemical threat and street fights.
Another message professed, in Russian, that all of Ukraine was under nuclear alert. “Don’t worry,” it added. “Oreshnik is in action,” referring to Russia’s nuclear-capable hypersonic missile.
That message referenced a Telegram channel called Hitcorecorp. Major pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Mash said it spoke with the group and that it took responsibility for the hack. NBC News could not verify who the group is and whether it was responsible for the alerts.
Shortly after the alerts went out late Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said the country’s “Air Alert” app had likely been “compromised by the enemy,” confirming there was no “radiation threat” and urging calm.
In separate statements, the app’s creators said “unauthorized third parties interfered with the operation of the app,” forcing them to temporarily suspend its operations. It later called the incident a “cyberattack,” saying it was gradually restoring the service. “The team is carrying out additional measures to protect the app in order to prevent similar situations in the future,” one of the statements said.
