Kiev introduces two-tier air-raid alert system to ease disruption

Ukraine is implementing a new two-tier air-raid alert system in response to ongoing Russian drone and missile attacks on Kiev.

The new system will include a yellow alert for approaching drones and a red alert for ballistic missile attacks or large-scale strikes, with different siren signals for each level.

Attacks on the Ukrainian capital are now occurring around the clock, leading to nine air-raid alerts in Kiev in a single day and significantly disrupting public life.

Ukraine is overhauling its air-raid alert system in response to near-constant Russian drone and missile attacks on Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday after a government meeting.

Under the new rules, a yellow alert level will be triggered when, for example, a drone is approaching, Zelensky said. A red alert will indicate an attack by ballistic missiles or a large-scale strike of another kind. Different siren signals are also to be developed for each level.

Russia's forces have recently changed their tactics: Whereas attacks had previously taken place mostly at night, individual combat drones or small groups are now striking the Ukrainian capital around the clock.

On top of that, attacks using ballistic missiles - against which Ukraine currently has little defence - are occurring every two to three days.

Kiev was placed under air-raid alert nine times on Wednesday by the evening. Public life has come almost to a standstill under these conditions, with businesses unable to operate, public transport forced to stop and the metro in particular brought to a halt.

The main aim of the changes was "to give people and businesses in Ukraine more planning certainty and to help them better understand how they should respond in each situation," Zelensky wrote on X.

Under a yellow alert, one Kiev metro line will in future be allowed to continue running to the high-rise residential areas on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, known locally as the Dnipro, while another will switch to bus services.

For people in Kiev and other parts of Ukraine, the alerts from the official warning app shape daily life. Almost everyone also uses additional information channels to find out what kind of threat is currently approaching from the air.