In October, air raid alerts lasted for more than one-third of the operating hours of Ukrainian shopping malls

In October 2026, air raid alerts during operating hours at shopping and entertainment centers (SECs) lasted for more than one-third of their operating hours. The proportion of time during which shopping centers had to operate under air raid alerts once again reached a record high.

By comparison, in October 2025, air raid alerts accounted for 12.2% of shopping centers’ operating hours.

Of the total duration of alerts in October, 36.7% were red-level alerts. In September 2026, the proportion of such alerts was higher, at 39.1%.

All tracked indicators increased over the month:

• the total number of air raid alerts;

• the number of alerts during the shopping center’s operating hours;

• the total duration of the alarms;

• the duration during which they disrupted shopping center operations.

Where the situation has worsened

The greatest deterioration in the security situation was recorded in the Dnipropetrovsk region, as well as in the western and central regions, specifically in the Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Volyn, Vinnytsia, and Zhytomyr regions. 

Where improvements were recorded

At the same time, improvements were observed in the Cherkasy, Poltava, Odesa, and Kherson regions, as well as in Kyiv.

Air raid alerts have the least impact on shopping centers’ operations in the western regions—Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Chernivtsi—where they account for less than 3% of operating hours.

The top five regions where air raid alerts sounded most frequently between 10:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. remained unchanged.

They include:

• Donetsk Oblast (96.5%);

• Zaporizhzhia (85%);

• Sumy (76.4%);

• Chernihiv Oblast (76.4%);

• Kharkiv Oblast (62.2%).

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the average number of forced days of downtime for shopping centers across Ukraine due to air raid alerts has reached 186.3 working days. In October 2026 alone, this figure stood at 9.8 working days. 

The figure stood at 32.5%, which is 1.7% higher than in September, according to the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers (URTC). 

Ukrainians flooded social media with memes after the “Air Raid Alert” app was hacked.

As a reminder, Ukraine’s nationwide alert system is operating without disruptions.

In Kyiv, 235 alerts were issued over the course of the month: Ukraine is preparing for mass production of interceptors.

Air raid alerts in 2025 lasted a record number of hours