Hackers infiltrate Ukraine emergency alert app with false nuclear and chemical warnings

Unknown hackers accessed Ukraine's nationwide emergency alert mobile app and issued false warnings of an imminent nuclear strike, a chemical threat and street-to-street fighting in Kyiv late on Sunday. The alerts, written in English, Ukrainian and Russian and containing spelling errors, appeared shortly before 23:00 local time.

The emergency service announced that “unauthorised parties” had interfered with the app and temporarily suspended the channel, urging users not to click on links in “suspicious notifications”.

A Russian-language message also claimed Ukraine was about to be hit by Oreshnik missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads. Russian officials later suggested the hacking group Hitcore might be responsible, though the claim could not be verified.

The fake alerts coincided with renewed Russian attacks on the southern city of Kherson after a six-day ceasefire ended. Kherson’s military administration reported a Russian drone strike on a hospital at 07:40, causing damage but no casualties.

Video footage shared with Sky News showed Russian soldiers moving heavy equipment and ammunition into damaged buildings near the occupied town of Oleshky, located across the Dnipro River from Kherson. Ukrainian marine brigade commander Dmitry Pulinets told Sky News that Russian forces had recently been able to drive into the city, a capability previously denied by weather and combat conditions.

Both sides described the ceasefire as a significant pause in fighting, while Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were no plans for another truce elsewhere, characterising troop movements as “standard practice”.