Yellow and Red Alerts: How Ukraine's New Air-Raid System Works

Two levels instead of one siren

Until this autumn an air-raid alert in Ukraine meant one thing: go to shelter. The Cabinet of Ministers has now split it into two levels, under Resolution No. 1092 of 4 September 2026, which came into force the same day. In Kyiv the new format started at 06:00 on 6 September 2026.

• Yellow — a drone threat, including reconnaissance drones.
• Red — a missile threat, a combined missile-and-drone threat, a massive drone attack, or ballistic danger.

The thresholds behind each level are reviewed weekly by the General Staff and the Air Force together with the government, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Emergency Service. The sound of the sirens is also being changed to match the level.

How the alerts arrive

Each new alert shows the current type and level of threat. When the situation changes, the new message simply replaces the previous one — there is no separate all-clear between two different threats. A drone alert followed by a missile alert means the missile threat is now the one that matters.

An all-clear means that, at that moment, none of the listed threats applies to your city.

The rollout is not uniform yet. In parts of Kyiv — the Pechersk district entirely, and parts of the Holosiivskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts — sirens still work the old way, without splitting by threat type and without a separate all-clear sound, because the threat type cannot yet be determined there. Outside Kyiv, check how your region applies the system.

For a visitor the practical rule is simple: install an official air-raid alert app on your phone before you arrive, allow notifications, and follow the official channels of the city you are in. Sirens are not audible everywhere indoors.

What keeps working during a yellow alert

Yellow is designed so that a city does not stop for every drone. During a yellow alert:

• Businesses may keep working — shops, cafés, offices — provided staff and visitors have access to a shelter. Where a building has no shelter yet, work may continue for a transitional period of up to three months from the resolution's entry into force, by agreement with the staff.
• Visitors decide for themselves whether to stay in such a place or move to a shelter.
• The metro in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv is recommended to run fully, and additional surface transport may be put on, so that people can reach work, hospitals and metro stations.

Yellow does not mean safe. A drone threat is a real threat, and it can escalate to red within minutes. Stay alert, keep your phone on, and know where the nearest shelter is.

What happens during a red alert

Red means stop. Businesses are required to halt work, and people must move to shelter. Do not wait to see whether it passes, and do not stand at windows to watch — debris from intercepted missiles and drones is one of the main causes of civilian injury.

The moment you check in anywhere — a hotel, an apartment, an office — ask where the nearest shelter is. Metro stations in the large cities serve as shelters.

Curfew

Curfew is still in force and is set by local authorities, not nationally. Under the September 2026 changes, local authorities are recommended to set curfew from 01:00 to 05:00. In Kyiv, transit freight and passenger transport to and from the railway stations are allowed to move during curfew, which matters if your train arrives at night.

Check the curfew hours for each city on your route. Being on the street during curfew without a permit is not allowed.

Emergency numbers in Ukraine

• 112 — single emergency number (from any phone, including foreign SIMs)
• 101 — fire and rescue (State Emergency Service)
• 102 — police
• 103 — ambulance
• 104 — gas emergency

If you are not sure which service you need, or you do not speak Ukrainian, call 112.

Medical help and your insurance

For anything short of an immediate life-threatening emergency — where 103 or 112 comes first — call the medical assistance line on your insurance certificate before going to a clinic:

• 0 800 501 001 — medical assistance, free within Ukraine
• +38 044 247 44 77 — the insurer's line for calls from a foreign number

The number printed on your own certificate is always the authoritative one. The assistance service works in English and in the major languages of the European Union; it arranges the clinic and settles the bill with the hospital directly.

Injury caused by military action — drones, missiles, debris — is a named insured risk in both plans of the contract. It applies throughout Ukraine except areas of active hostilities, occupied territories, a 50 km band around them, and territories under a special access regime. The details are in our military-risk guide.

Get cover that names military action as an insured risk →

A short checklist for visitors

1. Install an official air-raid alert app and enable notifications before you cross the border.
2. At every place you stay, ask where the nearest shelter is.
3. Keep your phone charged and carry a power bank — power cuts follow attacks.
4. Save 112, 103 and your insurer's assistance number in your contacts.
5. Carry your passport and your insurance certificate at all times.
6. Register your trip with your own country's embassy or foreign ministry, so they know you are in Ukraine if something happens. Addresses and phone numbers for 36 embassies are in our guide to embassies in Kyiv.
7. Check curfew hours for every city on your route.

Sources

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 1092 of 4 September 2026 on optimising population protection and response to air-attack threats; Kyiv City State Administration announcements on the differentiated alert system; regional civil-protection departments. Rules change quickly under martial law — follow the official channels of the city you are in. This article is general information for visitors, not official guidance.