Kyiv air raid alerts at record high as Russia launches round-the-clock strikes

Kyiv air raid alerts at record high as Russia launches round-the-clock strikes. But analysis of figures from the state-owned app Kyiv digital shows that since the round-the-clock Russian attacks began at the end of August, air raid sirens have sounded across Kyiv's skies on average 10 times a day.

What happened

Image source, NurPhoto via Getty ImagesImage caption, Russian drone strikes have caused serious damage around Kyiv in recent weeksThe alerts are also disrupting the start of the new academic year and forcing school children to leave their classrooms throughout the day. Figure caption, Watch: Kyiv residents on living under daily attacks by RussiaByJames Landale, Diplomatic correspondent, Reporting fromKyiv and Christine Jeavans, Senior data journalistPublished9 hours agoKyiv is suffering more daily air raid alerts than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, according to BBC Verify analysis of government figures.

The round the clock attacks have forced people to head for shelter as many as 13 times a day, with air raid alerts lasting from a few minutes to nearly four and a half hours. Image source, ReutersImage caption, Underground car parks are often used as air raid sheltersIn the seven days from Thursday 27 August, Kyiv endured 76 air raid alerts. When another air raid began, some students at the Drahomanov Ukrainian State University in central Kyiv headed underground; others stayed chatting on the street, such is the normality of these alerts.

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The wider picture

The more frequent Russian strikes are exacerbated by a second development, the use of newer and faster attack drones powered by jet engines. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held an emergency meeting with ministers and commanders to work out how to produce new high-speed missiles that can intercept the faster Russian drones. "You can all see that the Russians have changed the tactics of their strikes against Ukraine and, since August, have been terrorising our people, our cities and our villages far more intensely," the president said.

"Analysts say Russia's aim is not only to weaken Kyiv's morale but also damage Ukraine's economy by targeting businesses and warehouses. We saw crowds of shop workers from Kyiv's biggest department store hanging around the streets during an alert, forced to leave their work place but not fearful enough to seek shelter. Schools, businesses and public transport are all struggling with the surge in Russian air attacks. Most air attacks used to come at night but Russia's new tactic of striking Ukraine's capital during the day is causing huge disruption to schools and businesses.

Residents in Kyiv are struggling to adapt to this new reality, adding to existing stress and anxiety.

What has been reported

The alerts force pupils to leave their classrooms and workers their offices and leave commuters struggling to get home as overland trains stop. There was a brief pause in attacks on Kyiv over the weekend while US envoys were in town for talks about trying to end the war. Ukraine's air force says Russia launched 2,800 fast drones in August, almost twice as many as in July. Diplomats say the risk is that Russia will manufacture its fast attack drones more quickly than Ukraine can develop a new generation of interceptors.

Some military sources say this threat could become far greater than Russia's ballistic missiles which have largely overcome Ukraine's depleted Patriot defences. "Sometimes it is hard because most of the day I need to go to safe places, like the metro or somewhere underground," she said. "Ihor, studying to become a chemistry teacher, said he was used to the alerts after many years of war but life was still hard. "After a drone attack in a residential part of central Kyiv, students from a nearby school were evacuated for fear of explosions or a secondary, so-called "double-tap" attack.

What happens next

"It's a little bit scary to live here in Kyiv," she said. "Image caption, Sophia, 17, said life is scary in the city at the momentThe constant air raids are a huge problem for businesses, many of which have to shut their doors every time a siren wails. Some metro trains have to stop during an alert because they travel overground across the Dnipro river that bisects the city. To minimise this disruption, the government has agreed a new air-raid warning system with two different threat levels.

But the fear is that Russia's constant attacks now may leave the country and its capital less prepared for what many expect to be a tough winter as Russia shifts its attack back to Ukraine's energy infrastructure. This has forced the government to plan a new, two-tier warning system that allows people to carry on working, travelling and studying depending on the scale of the threat. Absolute comparisons are not possible because data gathered in the first few days of the invasion was sometimes incomplete.