Hackers sent false nuclear and missile warnings through Ukrainian and Russian apps

Late on Nov. 1, 2026, hackers targeted Ukraine’s Air Alert application, distributing false warnings about street-fighting, chemical and nuclear threats through the widely used civilian emergency application. Russia’s Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief said its warnings app came under a massive cyber attack early on Nov. 2, 2026, and that false information also reached the public through it.

The Ukrainian false alerts included a Russian-language message warning that an Oreshnik missile was on the way. The Oreshnik is a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile. It can carry nuclear or conventional warheads. The fake Russian alerts claimed Ukrainian P1-SUN drones armed with nuclear warheads had been launched against every region of the country, and they told Russian citizens to hide and stockpile three weeks of food.

Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications said Russia was behind the hack of the Air Alert application.

To mitigate the hack, the app’s developers disabled push notifications and briefly took the application offline. Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation supports the app, and Ajax Systems, a security technology firm, built it. Russia’s Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief operates the Russian warning app that the attack hit.

The false alerts hit Ukraine just before a six-day ceasefire in Kherson ended on Sunday night; during the truce, aid and evacuations had reached Oleshky. Vinnytsia Oblast Governor Natalia Zabolotna said the cyber attack might be a phishing operation and urged residents not to click links in the fraudulent messages.

Cyber security expert Don Smith of Sophos said the attack on Ukraine could point to Russian desperation. He added it might be an attempt to harm the morale of the Ukrainian people.