Rival Russian and Ukrainian hackers claim credit for fake nuclear attack alerts that were sent to millions in both countries
The hoax struck minutes after loudspeakers in Lviv blared the fake warnings aloud, as Russia simultaneously claimed its own emergency app suffered a cyberattack sending fake nuclear alerts inside Russia.
Ukraine's Air Alert app, used by 6.7 million people daily, was hit just after 11pm Sunday with fake warnings of a hypersonic Oreshnik nuclear strike, chemical attacks and street fighting in Kyiv — messages written partly in Russian and laced with spelling mistakes. Ukraine's air force confirmed the hack within minutes but took over an hour to issue the all-clear, leaving millions in suspense as the bogus alerts also struck Russia's EMERCOM emergency system simultaneously.
A newly-founded group called 'Hitcore' claimed responsibility for the Ukraine hack, while Ukrainian hacktivists are suspected of the retaliatory strike on Russia's app.
Russians were told to stockpile food for three weeks and hide in cellars or risk being 'blown to bits' — alerts that appeared on state messaging service MAX and via SMS.
The fake alerts went out minutes before the end of a six-day ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky, Kherson, as both armies simultaneously struck energy infrastructure across each other's territory.
