Ukraine, Russia both say they were hit by cyberattacks

Well, both Ukraine and Russia are reporting unusual cyber attacks that interfered with emergency alert apps. Ukraine says the country's air raid alert app was hacked. And for a short time, it showed certain areas were subject to nuclear and chemical threats. The app also warned of fighting in the streets of the capital. Officials blamed the hack on Russian interference, but Russia also reported a cyber attack. The CBC's Anna Cunningham is in London. She's tracking this story for us, looking into those strange hacks. So, Anna, what more can you tell us about what has happened here? Yeah, Arti, this is really unusual. Ukrainians, we know, are now quite used to hearing that ping of the air raid alerts on this app. But it was the content of these messages that made it different. It actually started just a few minutes before the end of that localised ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the city of Oleshky. There were four messages. They landed within three minutes. And the thing is, Ukrainians tend to watch out for what's called a red-level air raid warning. That's usually for ballistics missile threats. And these were red alerts. But let's just talk you through exactly what they said. The first message warned of a radiation danger in Kyiv. It told people not to go outside. Now, that message was in Ukrainian. The second, which landed a minute later, said there was a nuclear alert going out. across all of Ukraine. That message was in Russian. And the next two messages, Arti, were sent at the same time, both in Ukrainian, one warning of a chemical alert and the other of street fighting in Kiev. And they both said not to go outside. We know that all these messages were false. And I think the real giveaway for many people in Kiev certainly was that the message was in Russian. That's when they became suspicious. But, you know, because people are so used to hearing the ping of that, some people actually choose not to have the app at all. They just rely on those nationwide loud speakers with air raid siren alerts. Let's just take a listen to what one Ukrainian politician said about what happened last night. Your brain stops reacting to, strongly at least, reacting to such even kind of fake alerts. Additionally, people tend to treat all kinds of information with a certain skepticism. We're trying to double check. For instance, we're using not only these apps, but we're using also information coming from, for example, telegram channels and so on. And luckily, in this case, in this particular case, there was a swift reaction from the The Air Force saying that it was just a fake alert. Arti, it's really unclear as to who was actually behind this cyber attack or indeed why it happened. We know a few hours after those false Ukraine alerts, Russian authorities said that its alert app had also been hacked. It described it as a massive cyber attack, Arti. Now, meanwhile, Anna, two strikes were reported overnight in both countries. So what can you tell us about that? Yeah, both Russia and Ukraine carrying on strikes targeting energy sites such as oil refineries. We know that Russian forces hit Zaporizhia and Odessa. There was a medical facility hit in central Kherson by a drone. The damage there really visible. The authorities in Ukraine saying that that frontline region of Kherson was hit by multiple Russian drone attacks earlier on. That is the CBC's Anna Cunningham reporting.