Kyiv — Air Alert App Hacked, Sends False Radiation Warning

Ukraine's air raid alert app was apparently hacked Sunday night, sending false warnings of a radiation threat, a chemical attack and street fighting in Kyiv to users' phones, the Ukrainian Air Force said, according to the BBC.

The Air Force said in a Telegram post that the Air Alarm application "has probably been subjected to hostile interference." The post added: "There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel."

What false alerts did the app send?

The fake messages began at roughly 22:47 local time (20:47 GMT), the BBC reported. The first, in Ukrainian, read "Radiation threat. Radiation threat declared in Kyiv." A minute later, a message in Russian followed: "Hi! There will be a nuclear alert across Ukraine. Don't worry, it's Oreshnik flying."

At 22:49, two more alerts arrived within the same minute. One, in Ukrainian, warned of a chemical attack on Kyiv and told residents not to go outside. The other claimed street fighting was underway in the capital, again instructing people to stay indoors, according to the BBC's account of the Telegram messages.

Each false alert was later followed by an all-clear notice tied to that specific warning, individually declaring the radiation, chemical and street-fighting threats cleared, the BBC reported.

How did Ukrainian authorities respond?

The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency said on Telegram that the app had suffered a "failure" and urged the public to seek other sources to clarify the actual threat of air strikes, the BBC reported. In a separate post, the agency said the false alerts caused the Radiation Hazard signal to play over loudspeaker systems in the Lviv region, and it reiterated there was no radiation danger.

The agency advised residents to keep notifications enabled on their phones, pay attention to sirens and rely only on official sources for information, according to the BBC.

Natalya Zabolotna, governor of Vinnytsia oblast, posted on Telegram that the Air Alert app had suffered a cyberattack and warned residents not to click any link included in the suspicious messages, the BBC reported.

Who runs the Air Alert app, and is it being investigated?

The Air Alert app is supported by Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation and is designed to notify users instantly when defense alerts begin and end, according to the BBC. The app has become a routine part of daily life in Ukraine during the war with Russia, with millions relying on it to decide when to seek shelter.

Neither the Air Force nor the Central Intelligence Agency named a suspect or described the specific method used to breach the app, based on the statements cited by the BBC. No group has publicly claimed responsibility in the material reviewed for this report.

Why would someone target an air raid app?

The false alerts mixed genuine-sounding emergency language with a taunting reference to Russia's Oreshnik missile, a weapon Moscow has used to strike Ukraine. That combination suggests an attempt to sow panic or test public response to emergency messaging, though the Air Force and intelligence agency statements reported by the BBC did not attribute the breach to a specific actor or state a motive.

Ukraine's reliance on a single centralized alert app creates an obvious target: a successful intrusion can reach every phone with the app installed, instantly, without the delay of state broadcast systems. The Lviv loudspeaker incident shows the disruption extended beyond phone notifications into physical warning infrastructure tied to the app.

What should Air Alert app users do now?

Ukrainian officials have given residents three concrete instructions, per the BBC's reporting: keep phone notifications turned on, listen for actual sirens rather than relying solely on the app, and treat only official government channels as authoritative during the current uncertainty. Zabolotna's warning not to click any link in suspicious alert messages suggests officials are also concerned the breach could be paired with a phishing attempt.

As of the statements reviewed, authorities had not said whether the app had been fully secured or whether additional false alerts remained possible. The Air Force's message to the public was blunt: stay calm, and check official channels before acting on anything the app displays.