Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv says air raid warning app likely hacked after users receive false alerts
Summary
The app for a short time showed some areas subject to false nuclear and chemical alerts; temporary local ceasefire expires in southern Kherson. What we know on day 1,713 Ukraine’s air force said it suspected the country’s aid raid alert app – which is used across the country to warn people of the threat of airstrikes – had been hacked . On Sunday the app for a short time showed Kyiv and other areas subject to nuclear and chemical alerts. An erroneous message also said Russia’s hypersonic Oreshnik missile had been deployed. “The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence,” the air force said on Telegram. “There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!” Some hours later, Russia claimed a “massive cyber-attack” had hit its application designed to warn people of incoming drone attacks and other threats . “Attention! The mobile application of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia has been subjected to a massive cyber-attack, enabling attackers to send false information to the public,” Moscow’s emergencies ministry posted on Telegram early on Monday. Ukraine’s military said it evacuated 167 people from areas of southern Kherson region on Sunday as a temporary local ceasefire expired – two days after buses carried residents out of the Russian-held town of Oleshky . A six-day local ceasefire in Oleshky and the surrounding area was reached after mediation efforts by US first lady Melania Trump and with the involvement of Pope Leo. Neither side reported violations after the truce began, in what one Ukrainian lawmaker described as the “biggest de-escalation since 2022”. US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume this month, having been effectively frozen since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in February. Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin warned local people to be particularly vigilant when the ceasefire ended and to “respond immediately to warnings about Russian attacks” . A Ukrainian military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity to AFP, expressed concern that the fighting would be “worse than before” when it resumed. Russian forces on the other side of the Dnipro river, had taken advantage of the calm of the past few days to amass new troops, transport ammunition stocks, and collect intelligence on Ukrainian positions using surveillance drones, the officer said. Ukraine has resumed its attacks on Russian oil refineries in defiance of pressure from Donald Trump ahead of the US midterm elections, Luke Harding reports from Kyiv . Russian state media said on Sunday Ukrainian long-range drones had set fire to the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod oblast, soon after a major strike against another big refinery in Samara oblast, owned by the Russian state energy company Rosneft. Trump has blamed the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy , for the rise in global fuel prices, and last month lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel. Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine would stop hitting Russian oil refineries – a key demand of Trump – if Washington provided Kyiv with powerful Patriot interceptor missiles . Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Zelenskyy said: “We said that if you want us not to attack Russia’s refineries, they have not to attack our energy system. Another alternative, give us Patriot missiles, we will find money, not just aid.” Zelenskyy said if Washington provided the missile systems for one month Kyiv would cease attacks on Russian refineries for the same period. The Trump administration on Friday green-lit the sale of 500 Patriots to Ukraine, the state department said, but the Ukrainian president warned deliveries could take years. Ukrainian authorities have been warning for weeks that their supplies of the interceptor missiles were dwindling. Continue reading...
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