Number and duration of air-raid alerts during shopping hours increased in January

The share of the duration of air-raid alerts during the opening hours of Ukrainian shopping centres rose by 2.2% in January 2025 compared to December 2024, reaching 12.7%.

Source: Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centres (UCSC)

Details: UCSC noted, however, that this figure is lower than in January 2024, when it was 13.6%.

The five regions with the highest share of air-raid alerts during shopping centre opening hours remained unchanged last month: Sumy Oblast (66.2%), Donetsk Oblast (46.6%), Kharkiv Oblast (36.2%), Chernihiv Oblast (24.1%) and Poltava Oblast (23.6%).

On average across Ukraine, air-raid alerts have forced shopping centres to implement 99.7 working days of operational downtime since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, with 3.5 working days recorded in January 2025.

Background: 

• The percentage of air-raid alerts issued during shopping hours increased for three months in a row, reaching 11.8% in November 2024, the highest level in the last six months.
• The European Business Association has written to Ukraine’s Minister of Economy and Minister of Internal Affairs recommending the implementation of a targeted alert system. This system would restrict alerts to areas with genuine threats, rather than entire oblasts.

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