The Government of Ukraine is revising the air threat alert system: instead of a single alarm signal, a two-level model — yellow and red — is being introduced. This was announced by Prime Minister Serhiy Hordiienko, who emphasized that all changes will be reflected in notification apps. According to him, at the red level everything without exception stops working, and people are obliged to immediately move to the nearest shelter. At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers is preparing mechanisms that will allow businesses to continue operating during drone attacks, provided they have shelters, and is also planning to create a single state application based on the «Diiia» service.
Two levels instead of one siren
The key innovation is differentiating the signal by degree of danger. The yellow level allows part of everyday activity to continue, while the red level means a full move to shelters and a halt to work. The Prime Minister also reported that the repeated siren signaling the end of the alert is being abolished: citizens will be able to track the current threat level in official municipal applications and other familiar services. This is meant to reduce «alert fatigue» and allow people to orient themselves by the actual level of risk rather than by a formal signal.
A single application based on «Diiia»
A state application will be created on the «Diiia» platform, combining information on air raid alerts, danger, and the movement of unmanned vehicles — «Shaheds», drones, and missiles. The goal, as the government phrases it, is to form a single information field on current threats, so that citizens have one reliable source of data instead of numerous scattered notifications. The illustrations accompanying the news already show the current screens of alert apps, indicating the city, threat level, and program version.
Curfew and business operations
The government states that it is refining the application of the curfew to ease business operations. The Cabinet of Ministers recommends that local authorities adjust its time frame — for example, limiting it to the interval from 1:00 to 5:00. In Kyiv, transit movement of freight vehicles and the transport of passengers from stations and other hubs will be permitted. It is separately emphasized that the top-priority task for local authorities, together with business, is to accelerate the installation of mobile shelters that protect people from debris. At the same time, during an alert today, according to media reports, shopping malls and cinemas are closed, which directly hits trade and the services sector.
Transport: metro, bridges, and the railway
At the yellow threat level, the city authorities of Kyiv are recommended to ensure the metro operates in full and, if necessary, to increase the amount of above-ground public transport so that people can move freely around the city. Currently, by contrast, during an alert the metro runs with restrictions — trains operate only on underground stations, effectively turning into a shelter, and it is impossible to cross the city from the left to the right bank by metro. The operating regime of the railway, according to the Prime Minister, will be clarified separately in the near future.
Context: constant attacks on the capital region
The innovations are being introduced against the backdrop of the fact that Kyiv and the Kyiv region have been under constant drone attack since August 27: the enemy is using jet-powered «Shaheds», alerts last for hours, and their number in a single day often exceeds ten. Russian strikes are increasingly directed at economic infrastructure — warehouses of supermarket chains and marketplaces, publishers, «Nova Poshta», «Ukrposhta», «Episentr», pharmaceutical storage facilities; recently a drone hit a Coca-Cola plant in the Kyiv region. This is precisely why the revision of the alert and curfew rules is seen as an attempt to reconcile the safety of the population with the continued functioning of the economy.
