On the evening of 1 November, the command of the Ukrainian Air Force announced that the national population‑warning system had been hacked by the enemy. According to the statement, Ukrainian users of the system were receiving a large number of alerts, including warnings of nuclear and chemical attacks, as well as notifications of street fighting that allegedly was taking place in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the system had indeed been targeted. “It was a cyberattack, one of the hundreds and thousands that have been carried out by Russians against our banking, pension, social‑welfare and other support systems,” he said. “Every day they want to spread chaos across our cities; this is one of those steps.” Zelensky added that Ukraine had responded to the attack in the same manner it has responded to other cyberattacks. A screenshot posted on the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian resistance group ATESZ showed a message that the hacked application had sent to users after the breach. The message claimed that nuclear warheads had been installed on Ukrainian P1‑Sun drones and that they were being directed toward “all Russian regions.” Zelensky also addressed questions about Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russian oil refineries. He said that the country had paused such attacks during a brief “energy truce” announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump, but resumed them after the truce ended. “We always respond in the same way to cyberattacks and to the energy sector,” he said. “We told President Trump that we would stop attacking Russian refineries if Russia stopped attacking our energy system. Russia has attacked our energy system several times, causing severe power shortages. That is why we responded.” The president reiterated that the most painful targets for Russians are refineries, oil, energy, gas and diesel. He said he had asked Trump to call Vladimir Putin to support an energy ceasefire, and that Ukraine would cease refinery attacks if Russia stopped its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Article source: Rzeczpospolita | Image credit: Rzeczpospolita