Missile alerts cost Ukraine $45m for every hour they halt businesses
Figure cited by minister highlights trade-offs Kyiv faces as it tries to keep normal life moving amid Russian strikes
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Missile alerts are costing Ukraine an estimated $45m
Missile alerts are costing Ukraine an estimated $45m (£34m) for every hour they bring business to a halt, according to the country’s economy minister, as Kyiv searches for ways to keep the economy running under an intensifying Russian bombardment.
Russia has increasingly targeted the infrastructure underpinning Ukraine’s
Russia has increasingly targeted the infrastructure underpinning Ukraine’s economy, striking industrial sites, warehouses, logistics hubs and datacentres in what Oleksandr Kravchenko, the minister for economy and the environment, described as an effort to “destroy pretty much the entire economy”.
“What we had not fully anticipated was how
“What we had not fully anticipated was how quickly Russia would develop these jet-powered drones and use them to target everything,” he said, referring to Russia’s use of the new weapons that have pounded Kyiv in recent weeks.
Speaking from the heavily protected government building in
Speaking from the heavily protected government building in Kyiv, Kravchenko, a former McKinsey executive who joined the government in the summer, said the attacks were forcing large parts of the economy into repeated standstills as workers were sent to shelters, with sirens lasting up to 10 hours a day. “If people are in a bunker, business stops,” he said.
To ease the economic costs, the government recently
To ease the economic costs, the government recently introduced a new two-tier warning system designed to keep businesses operating during prolonged air raid alerts.
A “red” alert warns of a missile threat
A “red” alert warns of a missile threat and requires people to seek shelter, while a “yellow” warning is used for drone threats, allowing many businesses to remain open. More than half of businesses were continuing to operate during yellow alerts, Kravchenko said.
But a yellow alert is no guarantee of
But a yellow alert is no guarantee of safety. That danger was made clear on Monday, when a Russian jet-powered drone struck the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv during a yellow alert, killing two people while staff were still inside working.
It is one of the difficult trade-offs Ukraine
It is one of the difficult trade-offs Ukraine faces as it tries to keep normal life moving while protecting people from an escalating campaign of Russian strikes.
Kravchenko said Russian attacks this year alone had
Kravchenko said Russian attacks this year alone had caused an estimated $10bn in damage to fixed assets, with steel plants, warehouses, logistics infrastructure and, most recently datacentres, among the targets. Russia has also effectively blockaded Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, which before the blockade carried the bulk of the country’s exports.
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Missile alerts cost Ukraine $45m for every hour they halt businesses
Figure cited by minister highlights trade-offs Kyiv faces as it tries to keep normal life moving amid Russian strikes
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Source: Guardian World