False warnings in Kyiv
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that hostile interference hit the Air Alarm application on Sunday, causing several false emergency messages to reach users. At 22:47 (20:47 GMT), the application sent a Ukrainian-language message stating "Radiation threat. Radiation threat declared in Kyiv." One minute later, a Russian-language alert told users, "Hi! There will be a nuclear alert across Ukraine. Don’t worry, it’s Oreshnik flying". At 22:49, the application issued two separate Ukrainian-language warnings, including one claiming a chemical threat in Kyiv that told residents not to go outside and another reporting that street fighting was taking place in the capital. The Air Force sent a Telegram message stating, "The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference. There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel." After these specific threats, the system delivered a series of all clear messages to users’ phones, which were connected to each of the previous alerts, individually declaring each threat over.
Government warnings and regional impact
Natalya Zabolotna, the governor of Vinnytsia oblast, identified the event as a cyberattack and warned people not to click links in the messages. The Ukrainian Central Intelligence Agency stated that the app failure caused Radiation Hazard signals to play on loudspeaker devices in the Lviv region. The agency also used Telegram to state there was a failure in the app and urged people to use other sources of information to clarify the situation regarding the threat of air strikes. The agency advised the public to turn on smartphone notifications, pay attention to sirens, and to only read official sources. Zabolotna posted a warning on Telegram to alert citizens to the cyberattack.
| Alert Type | Time | Language |
|---|---|---|
| Radiation Threat | 22:47 | Ukrainian |
| Nuclear Alert | 22:48 | Russian |
| Chemical Threat | 22:49 | Ukrainian |
| Street Fighting | 22:49 | Ukrainian |
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine supports the Air Alert application to inform users instantly about the beginning and end of defence alerts. This flaw in the application caused immediate confusion when the app sent conflicting warnings about nuclear and chemical dangers. The intelligence agency noted that the radiation signal was played on loudspeakers, which is a separate issue from the mobile text messages that warned of chemical threats or street fighting in the capital city.
