The financial cost of the air-raid sirens in Kyiv

Kyiv. On the morning of 30 September, the air in Kyiv was thick with the smell of burning and a milky haze shrouded the streets. However, this was not autumn mist, but the aftermath of previous bombings, as explained by the State Emergency Service. “Residual smoke and soot rose into the upper atmosphere,” reported the emergency services, advising Kyiv’s residents to close their windows and thoroughly clean their flats. The previous night, Russia had once again bombed Ukraine with drones and ballistic missiles. This time, the main target of the night-time attack was the energy sector in Kyiv and the surrounding region, as announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky. But the attacks did not stop in the morning. The air-raid siren sounded again at 4:43 a.m. and continued for a further 7 hours and 38 minutes, until 12:21 p.m., as people made their way to work and children to school amid the sound of explosions.

Kyiv is now under the threat of bombardment at any time of the day or night. Before Russia resumed its attacks on the energy sector, its strikes had been focused on data centres, internet service providers and mobile phone operators. Drones struck Kyiv’s business districts and the offices housed there. On 27 September, the Russian Ministry of Defence boasted of having carried out a ‘digital detox’ operation. However, it appears to be acting on the basis of out-of-date information. For example, on 28 September, in the middle of the working day, a drone struck the private Dobrobut medical centre in central Kyiv. The building once housed the headquarters of Ukrtelecom, one of the largest internet service providers, but the site has long since been converted into a hospital.

“It is physically impossible to destroy the internet and communications in Ukraine,” Oleksandr Glushchenko, an expert in digital technologies, told Il Foglio. “There are thousands of internet service providers operating in the country and competition between them is fierce. Even if the bombing of data centres were to cause temporary disruptions (for example, Kyiv City Council has reported problems with the public transport payment system), the country will still have access to the internet,” he assures us. The internet is also available in frontline areas. The expert believes that the aim of the current attacks is not to disrupt communications, but to cause widespread damage to the economy.

In fact, alongside its attacks on communications, Russia is targeting industry and businesses. For example, following the bombings, the steel giants Zaporizhstal in Zaporizhzhia and ArcelorMittal in Kryvyi Rih have temporarily suspended operations at their sites, where thousands of people were employed.

The Fozzy Group, which includes the popular Silpo supermarket chain, recently announced that it had been forced to make some of its staff redundant because more than 20 of its facilities (distribution centres, warehouses, supermarkets) were destroyed or damaged between 1 August and 25 September. But Russia’s new tactics are not limited to physical destruction. “One hour of air raid alert costs the country 2 billion hryvnias (around 40 million euros),” the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy told Il Foglio. In the event of a bombing threat, many companies halt operations and employees take shelter. As air-raid alerts can last more than 10 hours a day, this results in long periods of inactivity and substantial economic losses.

All this is happening because Russia is currently unable to achieve its objectives on the front line. Ukrainian troops are thwarting its plans. Operation Vivaldi is currently underway in the Lyman sector, in the Donetsk region, and several occupied villages have returned to Ukrainian control. “Consequently, Moscow is shifting the war to the rear,” explains Mykola Kniazhytskyi, an MP for the European Solidarity party. “A low-cost drone can destroy not only a building, but also a sense of stability,” says the MP. The current attacks are not targeting servers, supermarkets or petrol stations. The enemy is trying to sow panic amongst the population, leading them to believe that the internet, electricity and food will soon disappear. But despite the losses, Kniazhytskyi is convinced that Russia’s plans will fail: “Ukraine will not be left without the internet or fuel, and the state will not cease to exist,” he reassures.