Ukraine will revamp its air-raid warning system and put in place two-tier alerts depending on the type of threat, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Wednesday, as intensifying
Russian strikes paralyse Ukrainian cities.
Since last week, jet-powered drones have been attacking Kyiv and surrounding areas, triggering a dozen air raid alerts a day and badly hitting businesses.
The barrages have also been disrupting traffic in the capital, as the metro no longer crosses the Dnieper River — which divides the capital in two — during the alerts.
“The systems for alerting the public about existing threats will be revised,” Zelensky said on social media on Wednesday.
He added that two levels will be introduced to indicate specific threats:
yellow and red.
“As a general rule, a yellow level will indicate a drone raid, while a red level will indicate a missile threat, including the threat of ballistic or large-scale attacks,” he said.
According to the revised rules, curfew hours in Kyiv will be reduced and, during a yellow-level threat, one metro line crossing the Dnieper will operate in full.
The measures were a response to “Russia’s changing tactics” and “its use of drones to wear down civilian life in our cities and disrupt normal economic activity across our country,” Zelensky said.
Over the past weeks, experts and residents in Kyiv, a city of three million people — have voiced frustration with the current security protocols, calling them ineffective and suggesting a more flexible approach.
Since Wednesday morning, air alerts have sounded in Kyiv eight times. At least 10 people were wounded in the Russian attacks, Zelensky said earlier.
The drones struck across the capital, including a university building during classes.
“Fortunately, the students were in the shelter — 160 students,” Zelensky said.
A Russian attack on an ammunition depot over the weekend killed 38 people in
the capital’s suburbs.
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