Ukraine's air force said it suspected the country's air raid alert app – used nationwide to warn of airstrike threats – had been hacked. On Sunday, the app for a short time showed Kyiv and other areas subject to nuclear and chemical alerts, and an erroneous message said Russia's hypersonic Oreshnik missile had been deployed.
“The air alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence,” the air force said on Telegram. “There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!”
Ceasefire expires in Kherson
Ukraine's military said it evacuated 167 people from areas of southern Kherson region on Sunday as a temporary local ceasefire expired – two days after buses carried residents out of the Russian-held town of Oleshky. The six-day local ceasefire in Oleshky and the surrounding area was reached after mediation efforts by US first lady Melania Trump and with the involvement of Pope Leo. Neither side reported violations after the truce began, in what one Ukrainian lawmaker described as the “biggest de-escalation since 2022”.
Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin warned local people to be particularly vigilant when the ceasefire ended and to “respond immediately to warnings about Russian attacks”. A Ukrainian military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity to AFP, expressed concern that the fighting would be “worse than before” when it resumed. Russian forces on the other side of the Dnipro river had taken advantage of the calm to amass new troops, transport ammunition stocks, and collect intelligence on Ukrainian positions using surveillance drones, the officer said.
Attacks on Russian refineries resume
Ukraine has resumed its attacks on Russian oil refineries in defiance of pressure from Donald Trump ahead of the US midterm elections, Luke Harding reports from Kyiv. Russian state media said on Sunday Ukrainian long-range drones had set fire to the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod oblast, soon after a major strike against another big refinery in Samara oblast, owned by Russian state energy company Rosneft.
Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine would stop hitting Russian oil refineries – a key demand of Trump – if Washington provided Kyiv with powerful Patriot interceptor missiles. Speaking to Fox News, Zelenskyy said: “We said that if you want us not to attack Russia's refineries, they have not to attack our energy system. Another alternative, give us Patriot missiles, we will find money, not just aid.” He said if Washington provided the missile systems for one month, Kyiv would cease attacks on Russian refineries for the same period.
The Trump administration on Friday green-lit the sale of 500 Patriots to Ukraine, the state department said, but the Ukrainian president warned deliveries could take years. Ukrainian authorities have been warning for weeks that their supplies of the interceptor missiles were dwindling.
