Ukraine's Air Alert app and Russia's emergencies app both hit by hacks that sent fake warnings, officials say

As of 2:56 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026

Update (Nov. 4, 2026, 2:56 p.m. ET): This story has been updated with a hack of the Ukrainian news outlet The Kyiv Independent, which says it suspects Russia. The original report on the two alert apps follows.

The Kyiv Independent says hackers sent fake emails to readers

The Kyiv Independent, an English-language Ukrainian news outlet, said it came under a cyberattack on Nov. 4. Hackers got into its website's content management system and one of the services it uses to send newsletters, the outlet said in its own report. They sent four emails to readers and posted similar messages on the website, which staff deleted right away, the outlet said.

The first email went out at 1 a.m. Kyiv time on Nov. 4 (6 p.m. ET Nov. 3), according to the outlet. Written in Russian, it falsely claimed that "Zelensky launched a nuclear warhead at Kyiv" as "proof of friendship" after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, and told readers to take shelter. A second wave of emails in Russian and English went out Wednesday afternoon Kyiv time and made false claims about a physical attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky, the outlet said. There was no nuclear launch.

"This is the first time an attack like this has happened to us, and we are treating it very seriously," said Olga Rudenko, the outlet's editor-in-chief. "Attacks like these are part of the war we cover every day — an attempt to sow confusion and erode trust."

The outlet said the content of the fake claims points to a Russian operation. It has not published technical evidence, The Record, from Recorded Future News, reported. GROKsiNEWS.com found no public comment from Russia on the outlet's claim. The outlet said the attack has "similarities" with the Air Alert app hack described below, but no one has shown the two were carried out by the same people.

Members' and donors' bank details are not at risk because payments go through outside payment systems, the outlet said. Chief operating officer Zakhar Protsiuk said staff had been working with cybersecurity specialists since the night to find and close vulnerabilities.

The alert app hacks, Nov. 1–2

Officials in Ukraine and Russia said late Sunday and early Monday that their public emergency alert apps had been hacked and used to send false warnings. The two incidents came hours apart. Each government has described only its own app, and neither has published evidence of who was responsible. The two cases are reported separately below.

Ukraine: the Air Alert app

Ukraine's Air Force said Sunday night that the Air Alert app had "probably been subjected to enemy influence." "There is no radiation threat! Stay calm, follow our messages on our channel," the Air Force said on Telegram. The Ministry of Digital Transformation posted the same warning.

Users in Ukraine received false warnings of dangerously high radiation levels in the capital, Kyiv, the Associated Press reported. AP said the messages also falsely claimed a chemical threat and public disturbances in Kyiv. The BBC reported that red-level air raid warnings appeared nationwide and that some users received additional radiation, chemical-attack and street-fighting warnings.

The State Emergency Service published a statement signed by the Center for Countering Disinformation. It said the app had "probably been hacked" and that the threat-level information being spread did not correspond to reality. It urged people not to panic, not to follow outside links and not to share unverified information.

Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications said "Russians hacked" the app. It pointed to several atypical threats appearing at once and a caption in Russian that mentioned the Oreshnik missile. "If you see strange messages in the app, don't panic," the center said. AFP reported that the center, known as SPRAVDI, blamed Russia. The Air Force did not name an attacker in its own posts.

Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat confirmed to AFP that the app had been hacked. Ihnat told Ukraine's 1+1 television that the cyberattack had no impact on Ukraine's security and defense operations because the app is separate from military command systems, AP reported.

In a Telegram post late Sunday, the app's alert channel said "unauthorized parties" had interfered with its operation and that the service had been temporarily suspended, AP reported. AP said the channel warned users not to click on links in "suspicious notifications." According to AP, authorities in Ukraine said the app was restored overnight.

While the app was not working, the Digital Transformation Ministry told people to turn on their phones' emergency alerts. It said sirens and other warning systems were still working and that people should go to shelter when they hear a siren or official alert. The State Emergency Service said the nationwide warning system was operating normally. It said threat signals were still going to regional administrations and street warning systems.

Two regional leaders, Svitlana Onyshchuk of Ivano-Frankivsk and Natalya Zabolotna of Vinnytsia, posted on Telegram that the app appeared to have been hacked, the BBC reported. Zabolotna warned residents not to click on the link in the message.

Russia: the MChS emergencies ministry app

Hours later, Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations, known as MChS, said its mobile app had been hit by a "massive cyberattack."

"Attention! The MChS of Russia mobile app was subjected to a massive cyberattack, as a result of which attackers managed to send fake information to the population," the ministry said on its official Telegram channel. "Work is currently under way to fix the app's vulnerability and restore its normal operation." The ministry did not describe the content of the false messages or how many users received them.

In a later statement, the ministry said the national public warning system was operating normally and that the app hack "has not had, and cannot have, any impact" on it, the BBC reported. The ministry said alerts reach the public through sirens and loudspeakers, text messages, and TV and radio broadcasts. It called the app "only an additional, ancillary news service," according to the BBC. The ministry said specialists were still working to restore the app.

The ministry did not name who carried out the attack, AP reported. AFP reported that Moscow did not immediately say who was behind it. Reuters reporter Jekaterina Golubkova reported the ministry's statement, citing the TASS news agency.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said all of Russia's state agencies were under constant threat of cyberattacks, including a growing number that use artificial intelligence, AP reported. "All government bodies must take steps to improve the cybersecurity of our digital resources," Peskov said.

What is not known

No government has published technical evidence of who carried out either intrusion, and The Kyiv Independent has not published technical evidence for its suspicion of Russia. Neither government has said the two incidents are connected. Officials have not reported how many people received the false messages or whether anyone was hurt.