Russian emergencies ministry says app under ‘massive cyberattack’

MOSCOW — Russia’s emergencies ministry said on Monday that a “massive cyberattack” hit its application, designed to warn people of incoming drone attacks and other threats.

The announcement came hours after Ukraine said it suspected its air raid alert system had been hacked, after false warnings of a radiation threat appeared on the app.

The cyberattacks came after the longest truce of the Ukraine war, limited to the eastern Kherson region, ended.

READ: Russia says responding to US report of planned attack on Moscow

The rare pause in fighting, which had been brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump and which began early Tuesday, enabled a humanitarian mission to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.

“Attention! The mobile application of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia has been subjected to a massive cyberattack, enabling attackers to send false information to the public,” Moscow’s emergencies ministry posted on Telegram.

Teams were working to fix the issue, it added.

Late on Sunday, Ukraine’s air force and anti-disinformation centre posted that: “The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference”.

READ: Kyiv: ‘Horrific’ Russian drone strike kills 14 at Ukraine train station

Air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat confirmed to AFP that the app had been hacked.

SPRAVDI, Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications, blamed Russia for the hack in a post on its X account.

A separate app, which deals specifically with the Ukrainian capital, is still working normally, the Kyiv city authorities said. /dl