Zelenskyy says Ukraine hacked Russia's alert system in response
Ukraine hacked Russia's emergency alert system in response to a hack of its own alert app, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with PBS News. “We only respond on their attacks,” he said. A group calling itself DC8044 had claimed the hack of the Russian app, The Record reports.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Ukraine hacked Russia's emergency alert system in response to an attack on Ukraine's own, PBS News reports. “We only respond on their attacks,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with PBS News anchor Amna Nawaz. “They attacked our system,” he said. “It was a cyberattack.”
“When it was very clear … that it's their personal attack against our people, civilians,” Zelenskyy said, PBS News reports. “Of course, we responded.”
As reported earlier, Ukraine's Air Alert app sent fake warnings late on Sunday of a radiation hazard, a chemical threat and street fighting in Kyiv, The Record and NBC News report. Ukraine's Air Force said the app had “likely been compromised by the enemy,” The Record reports. Hours later, Russia said its own alert system had also been hacked, NBC News reports.
One fake message linked to a Telegram channel of a previously unknown group calling itself Hitcore Corp, which claimed responsibility, The Record reports. NBC News reports the channel was called Hitcorecorp. NBC News said it could not verify who the group is or whether it sent the alerts.
A group calling itself DC8044 claimed responsibility for the hack of the Russian app, The Record reports. The group describes itself as an independent hacking community based in Kyiv, the outlet reports. It said it got in through the app's programming interface, The Record reports. In a report published earlier on Monday, NBC News said it was not immediately clear whether the two incidents were linked.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said its main warning system was not hit. “The hacking of the mobile app has not affected and cannot affect the operation of the public warning system,” the ministry said, The Record reports. Russian authorities blamed only “malicious actors,” NBC News reports.
The Air Alert app was launched in 2022 with support from Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation, The Record reports. It had 6.6 million active users as of January 2026, the outlet reports.
What we know: Zelenskyy said Ukraine hacked Russia's alert system after what he called a Russian cyberattack, PBS News reports. Two groups have claimed the hacks.
What we don't: Who carried out each hack, whether the groups' claims are true, and how Ukraine responded.
Where outlets agree PBS News, The Record and NBC News agree that emergency alert apps in Ukraine and Russia were hacked to send fake warnings, as officials in each country said.
Where they differ In an interview with PBS News, Zelenskyy said Ukraine hacked Russia's alert system in response to Russia's attack, while NBC News, in an earlier report, said it was not immediately clear whether the two hacks were linked.