Air Force explains false alert notifications in the Air Raid Alert app

On November 1, alert notifications that did not correspond to official air threat information began appearing in the mobile app «Air Raid Alert». Users received notifications about the threat of ballistic weapons, radiation and chemical hazards, and alleged ongoing street fighting in Kyiv. Air Force Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat commented on the situation in a conversation with RBC-Ukraine, noting that such information is untrue.

What the notifications actually showed

According to the basis of the material, on November 1, several types of alert messages began to appear in the «Air Raid Alert» app: about the threat of ballistics, radiation and chemical hazards, and street fighting in the capital. These messages caused resonance because they did not match what was published in the official channels of the Air Force and created a false impression among users about the nature and scale of the threat.

Air Force position

Air Force Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat emphasized that the department's resources did not report any threat from ballistic weapons, radiation hazard, chemical attack, or street fighting in Kyiv. According to him, such information does not correspond to reality, and the source of the тревожных messages was not an official notification, but a malfunction in the app.

The app was hacked

«According to our data, the „Air Raid Alert“ app was hacked,» Ihnat said. Later, the Air Force Telegram channel added that the app might have been compromised. Thus, the department links the appearance of false notifications to the compromise or technical failure of the mobile service, rather than to a real combat situation.

Context and significance for users

The incident demonstrates how important it is to rely on official alert channels and not react to contradictory notifications without checking them against confirmed sources. The Air Force actually urged users not to take false app messages as real threats, as they were generated as a result of a hack or malfunction, rather than reflecting the actual situation in the airspace over Kyiv and other regions.