by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian authorities in the war-divided Kherson region reported multiple Russian drone attacks Monday, hours after a six-day humanitarian ceasefire expired, while officials in Ukraine and Russia said cyberattacks on mobile phone emergency warning applications had triggered false nuclear alerts.
The ceasefire, which began October 27, allowed hundreds of civilians to escape from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, where residents had endured severe shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies.
Ukrainian authorities said two elderly residents, a 62-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man, were hospitalized with blast injuries following drone strikes in the nearby Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson, across the Dnipro River from Oleshky.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, officials said Russian drone strikes injured at least 12 people in the eastern Kharkiv region and five others in the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
Russia, in turn, said its air defenses intercepted 212 Ukrainian drones overnight, while independent Russian media reported an attack on a major oil transport hub in Russia’s Samara region. The extent of any damage was not independently confirmed.
UKRAINE BLAMES RUSSIA
The renewed fighting followed accusations by Ukraine’s General Staff that Russian forces had used the humanitarian pause to reinforce military positions, rotate troops, strengthen anti-drone defenses and replenish ammunition supplies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he lacked specific information about Russian military operations during the ceasefire but suggested Ukrainian forces had also used the pause to regroup.
Peskov nevertheless praised the humanitarian operation, which was brokered with the involvement of U.S. first lady Melania Trump following appeals from Pope Leo.
He said “the operation in Oleshky had been successfully carried out” and thanked those involved for their coordination, particularly the United States and Melania Trump.
However, Peskov said no similar initiatives were currently planned, despite hundreds of civilians remaining in Russian-occupied Oleshky.
OLESHKY EVACUATION MISSION
Melania Trump said “nearly 800 people had been evacuated” during the humanitarian mission. Russian officials acknowledged that fewer than 750 residents remained in the town.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, expressed hope that the operation could serve as a model for future humanitarian missions and contribute to renewed diplomatic efforts.
Lubinets said the oldest person evacuated to Ukrainian-controlled territory was 94 years old. The mission also rescued 104 pets, including four parrots.
He described the operation as extremely complicated and emphasized the importance of American involvement in coordinating the arrangements between the warring sides.
The latest clashes came amid another threat, as authorities in both Ukraine and Russia reported cyberattacks targeting emergency warning applications on mobile phones.
FALSE NUCLEAR WARNINGS
In Ukraine, users received false alerts warning of an imminent nuclear threat, high radiation levels and an incoming Russian ballistic missile.
One message referred to Russia’s Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, while others contained spelling and grammatical errors and appeared in a mixture of languages.
Ukrainian authorities said unauthorized parties had interfered with the country’s air raid alert application, urging residents not to follow suspicious links and to rely on alternative official warning channels.
Ukraine’s air force stressed that the breach had not affected military command and defense operations because the civilian warning application operated separately from military systems.
Russian authorities also reported that hackers had gained access to the Emergency Situations Ministry’s mobile application, sending false warnings across 33 Russian regions.
RUSSIAN CYBERATTACK RESPONSE
The ministry said the vulnerability had been identified and measures were being taken to restore the application’s functionality and prevent further breaches.
It stressed that other public warning systems, including text messages, broadcasts and emergency sirens, remained operational.
Peskov warned that Russian government institutions faced a continuing threat from cyberattacks, including increasingly sophisticated attacks involving artificial intelligence.
The incidents underscored the continuing dangers facing civilians on both sides of the conflict, even as humanitarian officials expressed hope that the Oleshky evacuation could pave the way for further cooperation.
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