In a stark reminder that this war now plays out as much on phones as on the battlefield, Russia and Ukraine say their emergency alert applications were targeted in what appear to be cyberattacks.
Russia reported a “massive cyberattack” on its warning app this morning—just hours after Ukraine flagged a suspected hack of its own system—in an apparent digital tit-for-tat as the two sides’ longest truce expired.
According to the Kremlin’s emergencies ministry, attackers pushed “false information” through the Russian application, which is intended to notify residents about incoming drone strikes and other dangers.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials said they believed their air raid alert system had been compromised after unfounded radiation-threat notifications appeared on the app.
The cyber incidents coincided with the end of the longest pause in hostilities of the war, a ceasefire limited to Ukraine’s eastern Kherson region that ended yesterday after Russia declined Kyiv’s offer to extend it, according to Ukrainian officials.
Moscow did not immediately identify who it believed was responsible for the attack on its platform. In Kyiv, Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications SPRAVDI accused Russia of being behind the intrusion it experienced.
The unusual lull—brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump and launched last Tuesday—allowed a humanitarian mission to reach the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky as the conflict drags into its fifth year.
Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky arrive in Ukraine over the weekend
“The ceasefire, which was in effect from 27 October to 1 November, has ended,” Ukraine’s Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said.
He described the temporary stoppage as “an important step in our joint humanitarian efforts” with Russia.
US-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are due to restart later this month, after talks were effectively put on ice following joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that Kyiv would halt strikes on Russian oil refineries—something US counterpart Donald Trump has demanded—if Washington supplied Ukraine with advanced Patriot interceptor missiles.
Raid alert app hack
As the ceasefire deadline approached, Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin urged residents to be extra cautious and to “respond immediately to warnings about Russian attacks”.
“The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference,” Ukraine’s air force said in a message. “There is no radiation threat.”
Air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat later confirmed to AFP that the app had been hacked.
Several hours after Ukraine’s disclosure, Russia’s emergencies ministry said crews were working to restore services following a “massive cyberattack” that was “enabling attackers to send false information to the public”.
Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 has devastated swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and driven millions from their homes.
Latest stories from Ukraine
In Kherson, AFP spoke with residents who said the brief calm offered a rare chance to focus on day-to-day life. One person described the ceasefire as a “breath of fresh air”.
“We have to use this time to get things done,” said Volodymyr Omeltchenko, a 38-year-old gardener, shortly before the truce ended.
“We’re pruning the rose bushes for winter.”
Pope Leo, who had urged Russia to accept a truce in Oleshky, said he hoped the limited pause would “strengthen the desire for dialogue and lead to new concrete peace initiatives”.
But a Ukrainian military officer, speaking anonymously, warned that once combat resumed it could be “worse than before”.
The officer said Russian units positioned across the Dnipro river used the days of reduced fighting to bring in additional troops, move ammunition supplies and gather intelligence on Ukrainian positions with surveillance drones.
Oil attacks
Even as the Kherson ceasefire expired, strikes continued elsewhere yesterday.
Russia said a drone hit an “industrial enterprise” east of Moscow overnight, while Ukrainian media reported that Kyiv targeted the Kstovo oil refinery.
Ukraine has repeatedly attacked Russian oil and gas facilities, arguing the strikes are a legitimate response to Russian assaults on Ukraine’s energy grid.
Mr Trump has been urging Kyiv to stop hitting refineries, saying the attacks have contributed to higher diesel prices—though analysts have linked the rise to the war in Iran.
Mr Zelensky said on Fox News that he told Mr Trump and his advisers: “If you want us not to attack Russia’s refineries, they have not to attack our energy system.”
“Another alternative, give us Patriot missiles,” he said.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said Sunday that new power outages had been recorded around the country, including in Kyiv, after Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
