Cyberattacks target Ukraine and Russia following truce expiration

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations stated that its mobile application, used to alert the population about drone attacks and other dangers, was targeted by a “massive cyberattack.” This allowed the attackers to “spread false information to the population,” the ministry wrote on Telegram, adding that work is underway to “correct the vulnerability of the mobile application and restore its normal operation.”

Earlier, Ukraine’s Air Force indicated that the official application used nationwide to provide real-time warnings of potential Russian airstrikes, by region, district, or locality, had been compromised.

Russia has not yet identified who was responsible for the cyberattack on its application. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications (Spravdi) attributed the hacking of its application to Russia.

“This is evident from the appearance of several unusual alerts,” Spravdi stated in a post on the X platform, which included a screenshot of messages on the application. These messages included warnings of nuclear and chemical threats, and referenced “Orechnik,” a Russian missile.

The cyberattacks unfolded after a six-day truce expired on Sunday evening in Olechky. The ceasefire allowed for the evacuation of residents from the frontline city in the Kherson region, an area with mined access and facing drone fire and severe shortages.

This marks the longest ceasefire since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Neither Kyiv nor Moscow has reported violations of the agreement, unlike previous partial ceasefires, including those during Orthodox Easter.

Ukrainian Parliament’s Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, described the pause in fighting, negotiated by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, as “an important step in our joint humanitarian efforts” with Russia.

U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected to resume this month, after being effectively frozen since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran at the end of February.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Sunday that Ukraine would cease striking Russian oil refineries, as requested by his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, if Washington provided Kyiv with Patriot interceptor missiles.

The Ukrainian military has been targeting refineries, pipelines, and oil depots in Russia on a near-weekly basis to deprive Moscow of revenue from hydrocarbon sales, which are used to fund its war effort.

On the ground, Oleksandre Prokoudine, head of the military administration of the Kherson region, urged residents to “be particularly vigilant” and “respond immediately to warnings of Russian attacks” following the ceasefire’s expiration.

An hour before the truce ended, the Russian Ministry of Defense wrote on Telegram: “We are not sparing ammunition, nor the enemy. The night will be hot, we are at work.”

Russia and Ukraine have continued their strikes outside the ceasefire zone. Russian attacks on Sunday resulted in three deaths, including a 13-year-old girl, in the Vinnytsia (central) and Sumy (northern) regions, according to Ukrainian authorities.