"The Oreshnik Is Incoming": Hacked Alert Apps Open a New Front in the Ukraine War
Fake nuclear and chemical warnings hit phones in both Ukraine and Russia as a limited ceasefire ended. The attacks did not touch military systems, but they went after something just as important: public trust in the warning itself.
By Clara Hughes
On Sunday, phones in Ukraine lit up with warnings that sounded like the end of the world. According to the Associated Press, fake alerts pushed through a popular Ukrainian air-raid app warned of radiation, a chemical threat and disturbances in Kyiv. One message read: "Hi! There will be a nuclear threat across Ukraine. Do not worry, the Oreshnik is incoming" — a reference to Russia's intermediate-range ballistic missile. Then Russia reported the same thing happening to its own citizens. Russia's Emergency Ministry said a false alert went out across 33 of the country's 89 regions at about 2:45 a.m. Moscow time, the AP reported. Both sides blamed hackers. Both said their real warning systems still worked. And both governments learned that a panic button in millions of pockets is a target. Keep reading with Altas Premium. Below: what was hacked on each side and who claimed it, what officials say was and wasn't affected, why experts call it a first, and the lesson for America's own emergency alert system from the 2018 Hawaii missile scare. [Subscribe to Altas World News →] What happened