Air raid alert apps in Ukraine and Russia were targeted by cyberattacks overnight, as the temporary ceasefire between the two countries came to an end.
Ukraine’s Air Force was the first to announce, in a message on Telegram, that the Air Alert app may have been attacked. It urged citizens to remain calm and follow updates on its channel, clarifying that there was no radiation threat.
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The breach was later confirmed by Air Alert’s technical team. It said unauthorized individuals had interfered with the app’s operation, so push notifications were temporarily disabled and the service was suspended for security reasons.
Those responsible for the platform said users’ personal data was not at risk because the app does not store such information. They warned citizens not to open links included in suspicious notifications under any circumstances.
A significant cyberattack was also reported in Moscow, this time targeting the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations’ mobile app. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, Russian authorities said citizens began receiving emails containing false information after the incident.
The incidents came after the temporary ceasefire in the Kherson region of eastern Ukraine ended on November 1. Kyiv said Russia had rejected a proposal to extend the agreement.
The ceasefire had begun on October 27, with the mediation of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, and had made a humanitarian mission possible in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, said the ceasefire in effect from October 27 to November 1 had ended. He described the pause as an important step for the two countries’ joint humanitarian efforts.
Moscow has not yet said whom it considers responsible for the attack on its app. Ukraine’s strategic communications center, SPRAVDI, has attributed the attack on the Ukrainian app to Russia.
Talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected to resume this month with U.S. mediation, after a period in which negotiations had been virtually frozen.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv could halt its attacks on Russian oil refineries, as U.S. President Donald Trump has requested, if Washington supplies Ukraine with powerful Patriot interceptor missiles.
The latest cyberattacks show that the confrontation between the two countries continues beyond the battlefield, including in the digital sphere, even when fighting is temporarily suspended.
