Ukraine's air raid alert app apparently hacked, sending false radiation warning
Ukraine's air raid alert app briefly displayed fake radiation and chemical threat warnings for Kyiv on Sunday evening. The Ukrainian Air Force says the app was probably subjected to hostile interference and stresses that there is no radiation threat.
Ukraine's air raid alert app was probably hacked on Sunday evening, briefly telling users that the capital, Kyiv, faced a radiation threat, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The app is used to warn residents about air strikes, so false messages can cause confusion while the country is at war.
In a post on its Telegram channel, the Air Force said the "Air Alarm" application had probably been subjected to hostile interference. It stressed that there was no radiation threat, urged people to stay calm and asked them to follow updates on its channel.
Three false alerts
The first message, in Ukrainian, appeared at about 22:47 local time (20:47 GMT) and said a radiation threat had been declared in Kyiv.
The second, written in Russian at 22:48, announced a nuclear alert across Ukraine and added that an Oreshnik was flying.
The third alert came at 22:49, again in Ukrainian. It warned of a chemical attack on Kyiv and told people not to go outside.
Official response
The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency said on Telegram that the app had suffered a failure. It urged people to use other sources of information to clarify the situation regarding the threat of air strikes.
The source does not say who may be responsible for the hacking or how many users received the false alerts.
