Ukraine will announce alarms in a new way: there will be fewer sirens

Air raid alerts in Ukraine are transitioning to a new format — sirens will sound less frequently and only where there is a real threat. District-specific alerts have already had a noticeable effect on residents, businesses, and critical infrastructure, reducing downtime and increasing the accuracy of responses. Learn how the system has changed and in which regions there are significantly fewer alerts

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Ukraine is introducing a new approach to air raid alerts, which should significantly reduce the number of siren activations and minimise downtime for businesses and critical infrastructure. The new system has already begun operating throughout the country, with the exception of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The transition to the updated alert format was announced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. It involves issuing alerts on a district-by-district basis instead of the usual regional basis.

What is the essence of district-based alerts?

The essence of the changes lies in the differentiation of air raid signals. The State Emergency Service, together with the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and regional military administrations, has introduced a system whereby the signal is activated only in those areas and communities where there is a real threat at a given moment. This avoids situations where the alarm sounds throughout the entire region, even though there is no danger in certain settlements.

According to Svyrydenko, this approach has long been discussed with businesses and local communities. Businesses will be able to operate more stably, without constant interruptions due to false alarms, and residents will be less likely to experience hours of sirens without a direct threat.

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Fewer alarms

In the first stage, the system was tested in 13 regions of Ukraine. After analysing the results, it was decided to scale it up to the whole country. Already, there has been a noticeable reduction in the total duration of alarms, especially in the central and frontline regions.

The most noticeable effect was recorded in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where some communities have had a total of more than 100 days without alarms. In the Sumy region, the total duration of alarms has been reduced by approximately 50 days, and in the Kharkiv region, by more than a month in a number of settlements.

In addition to reducing the number of alerts, the speed of signal transmission has also changed. Previously, information from the Air Force to the State Emergency Service could be transmitted within a few minutes, but now this process takes only 8-15 seconds. This increases the speed of response and makes the warning system more accurate and effective.

The government emphasises that safety remains a priority, and the new alert format is designed to ensure that warnings are as targeted and justified as possible, without excessive false alarms.

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