Officials: Apps warning of attacks in Russia and Ukraine hacked and fake messages about “radiation alerts”

- Officials in both Ukraine and Russia said that emergency mobile phone applications in both countries were subjected to cyberattacks during the night between Sunday and Monday. The Ukrainian Air Force reported late Sunday that the country's air raid warning app had been hacked, and that radiation alerts users received were false.

The Air Force said on the Telegram platform: “It is likely that the Air Alert application has been subjected to hostile influence. There is no radiological threat,” calling on citizens to remain calm and follow messages received through its official channel.

Reuters reported that the application briefly displayed alerts about nuclear and chemical risks in Kiev and other regions, in addition to warnings of the risk of battles breaking out in the streets. The abnormal alerts later disappeared.

In a separate incident, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said its mobile app had been subjected to a "large-scale cyberattack," Russian state news agency TASS reported early Monday. This led to the publication of “false information to the public,” according to the ministry’s press office, according to a TASS report.

It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents were related.