Warning apps in Ukraine and Russia: Attention, attention, your disinformer is hacking here

dpa/afp/rtr/taz | In Ukraine and Russia, the official emergency apps that send urgent warnings to smartphones in the event of enemy air strikes have been hacked, according to authorities. First, late on Sunday evening, the Ukrainian app incorrectly warned about radioactive radiation in the capital Kyiv, among other things.

The “Air Alert” app may have been compromised by the enemy, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram: There is no danger from radiation. The app is also said to have falsely warned of attacks with chemical weapons. Citizens were asked by authorities not to click on links in the warning app.

On Monday night, Russia reported a massive cyber attack on its warning app, as the state news agency Tass reported, citing the Civil Defense Ministry. The attackers managed to send false information to the population, it said without giving any details. The Ministry of Warnings website was temporarily unavailable during the night.

The Russian authorities did not provide any information about who they suspected was behind the attack. The chronological sequence of events suggested that it could have been a Ukrainian counterattack.

Meanwhile, the six-day ceasefire in the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky is over. “The ceasefire in force from October 27th to November 1st has ended,” said Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets on Sunday evening.

According to Ukrainian information, Russia rejected an extension of the ceasefire. A senior Ukrainian government official told the AFP news agency on Sunday evening, a few hours before the ceasefire expired, that the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv had suggested an extension to Moscow. “The Russians don’t want to,” he added.

In view of serious shortages of food, water and medicine, the ceasefire was intended to enable the population to be supplied, aid to be delivered and civilians to be evacuated. On Saturday, people evacuated from Oleschky arrived in northern Ukraine via Russia and Belarus and saw their relatives again there.

Shortly before the ceasefire expired, the Ukrainian military said it evacuated a further 167 people from threatened areas in the southern Kherson region, including 22 children and 21 people with reduced mobility.

The city of Oleshky is located on the banks of the Dnipro in the Kherson region in the Russian-occupied south of Ukraine. Russia conquered the city in 2022. Of the original 24,000 residents, around 2,000 are said to have been in the city before the evacuation operation, now there are around 1,000.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is reporting successes on the ground against Russia. In October, Ukraine liberated more territory (96.2 square kilometers) than it lost to Russia (85.8 square kilometers), said President Volodymyr Zelensky, citing information from the General Staff.

October 2026 was also the month with the highest losses for Russia since the full invasion began in February 2022, with 54,400 Russian soldiers killed, disabled or missing.