Ukraine to introduce two threat levels for air raid warnings, Zelenskyy says
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Kyiv on the evening of September 1, 2026, amid constant air raid alerts (Photo: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)
Ukraine will update its air raid alert system and introduce two threat levels — yellow and red — to help people better understand the type of danger they are facing and how they should respond, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X on Sept. 2, after hearing a report from Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi on preparations for responding to changes in Russian strike tactics, including the use of drones to wear down life in Ukrainian cities and strain the economy.
“First, the systems for alerting the public about existing threats will be revised,” Zelenskyy said. “People need to understand very clearly what exactly they are supposed to react to and how. Two levels will be introduced to indicate specific threats – yellow and red.”
According to the president, Ukraine’s General Staff, Air Force, Cabinet of Ministers, Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry, and State Emergency Service will determine each week which threats correspond to yellow and red levels.
He said the yellow level will apply to drone raids, while the red level will indicate missile danger, the threat of ballistic weapons, and mass attacks.
Ukraine will also change the sound signals used for air raid alerts so that they correspond to either yellow or red threat levels. Zelenskyy said the repeat siren at the end of an alert has already been canceled. From now on, the siren will sound only when an alert is declared.
He added that clearer warning sounds are being prepared so that people can distinguish the level of danger by sound.
“The main goal of these changes is to give people and businesses in Ukraine more predictability and a better understanding of how to react in each specific situation,” Zelenskyy added. “I have also instructed officials to develop clearer geographic differentiation of air raid alerts – so that alerts are issued, and reactions are required, specifically in the areas where there is objectively a threat.”
He also said the government, local authorities, the military, the Interior Ministry, and the State Emergency Service must define clear criteria so that state institutions, local governments and businesses can continue operating during a yellow-level threat.
Zelenskyy instructed the prime minister to prepare additional support steps for business that would allow the rapid expansion of modular shelters and ensure they are equipped to meet new safety requirements.
At the end of August, Russian forces significantly intensified attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region. Because of the threat from jet-powered drones, dozens of air raid alerts have been sounding each day.
As of the time this report was written on Sept. 2, nine alerts had already been declared in the capital since the start of the day. At least 11 people were known to have been injured in the attacks. Russian strikes hit the National University of Food Technologies in central Kyiv and a six-story residential building in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district.
Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Sept. 2 that while Kyiv recorded 14 alerts lasting a total of 13 hours and 3 minutes from the morning of Aug. 27 to the morning of Aug. 28, on Sept. 1-2 there were 10 alerts lasting a combined 5 hours and 21 minutes.
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