The key facts

  • The fake alerts appeared at around 2:45 in the EMERCOM and RSChS channels, the ministry's app, and the channels of regional operational headquarters
  • At least St. Petersburg, the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Tyumen, Tula, Chelyabinsk, and Belgorod regions, the Perm and Stavropol territories, and Bashkiria were affected
  • That same night, the Ukrainian app 'Air Alert' was hacked; the hackers Hitcore claimed responsibility

Mass mailing of fake alerts

On the night of November 2, at around 2:45, fake messages appeared simultaneously in the channels of Russia's Emergency Ministry (EMERCOM) and RSChS, in the ministry's app, and in the channels of regional operational headquarters, claiming that nuclear warheads had supposedly been launched at Russia. The hacking of the resources is reported by Gazeta.Ru, citing the Telegram channel 'Ostorozhno, novosti' (Caution, News). The text being distributed read: 'Nuclear warheads have been launched at all regions of Russia on P1-SUN carriers! Urgently stock up on food for three weeks and hide in your <...> basement.'

Which regions were affected

Such posts appeared in at least the EMERCOM channels of St. Petersburg, the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Tyumen, Tula, Chelyabinsk and Belgorod regions, as well as in the Perm and Stavropol territories and Bashkiria.

Reaction and reports of the hack

A message appeared in the news Telegram channels of the Belgorod and Saratov regions: 'The disinformation was spread through the RSChS system. There has been no official message about a hack yet, but do not give in to panic. That is exactly what the enemy is counting on.' At the same time, information about the hack appeared in the RSChS channel of the Sverdlovsk region on the 'Max' platform and in the Telegram channel 'News of Krasnodar and the Region'. Thus, at the time of publication, no official confirmation of the hack from EMERCOM was provided in the sources: some channels called the mailing a disinformation injection, others a hack.

Hacking of the Ukrainian app 'Air Alert'

That same night, according to Gazeta.Ru, the Ukrainian app 'Air Alert', which publishes alerts, was hacked. According to the outlet 'Strana', within a short period of time the app sent warnings about a radiation hazard, a chemical threat, street fighting, and an 'Oreshnik' attack. Responsibility for the hack was claimed by Russian hackers from the Hitcore group. The outlet also recalls an earlier incident when a Russian hacker hacked video cameras across Ukraine.