Almost every day, depending on where you are, you will hear them echoing in many cities in Ukraine. However, after several months of war, sirens warning of possible air strikes were often ignored by the population.
The contrast at the beginning of the war is obvious. In the first weeks, citizens took refuge in large numbers in bomb shelters that were, usually, parking lots, basements or subway stations.
Now, unless they are in the Donbass region besieged by Russian forces, there is a sense of security among the Ukrainian population, no matter where the bombardments took place, but often outside the main city centers.
To compensate for the lack of efficiency of these loudspeakers that broadcast famous sirens – which, it must be said, seem to date back to the Soviet era and are not very heard in some cities – there are several applications and websites whose mission is to alert the citizens.
For example, the Air Alert app was developed one day by Ajax Systems and St Falcon, local companies, in collaboration with the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation. It provides information on the start and end of wind, chemical, and other types of emergencies to the civil defense system, providing the loudest possible alarms (same siren sound), even when the phone is on silent or standby mode.
Alerts are also delivered on the social networks of other good Samaritans who have set up emergency messaging systems. This is the case of Bernard Moerdler, a young Israeli -based American who created a Ukraine’s Siren Alerts on Twitter. Its system recognizes and relays alerts in real time throughout Ukraine. Each alert can be viewed on a map with location, date and time information.
His source of inspiration? His girlfriend remained in Ukraine. I made these siren alerts for her and for strangers so they could follow what was happening for their families in their home.
In the coming days, he will launch an application and website that will also allow the search of 24,000 bomb shelters scattered across the territory. To encourage Ukrainians to take these alarms seriously, it will also add an important feature: a newsfeed that actually shows why the alert came outhe explains.
Unless there is a speedy end to the war (more than likely we will not believe the situation continues), sirens will continue to sound in Ukraine, whether the citizens respect them or not.
Source: Radio-Canada