Ukraine says missile alerts cost economy $45m for every hour businesses are halted

Missile alerts are costing Ukraine an estimated $45m, or roughly £34m, for every hour they force businesses to a halt, according to the country's economy minister, as officials in Kyiv search for ways to keep economic activity going under continued Russian bombardment.

The minister described the situation as one of stark trade-offs: when air raid sirens sound and people move to shelters, commercial activity effectively stops until the alert passes. "If people are in a bunker, business stops," the minister said, underlining how directly the security situation affects the country's economic output.

Russia has increasingly targeted infrastructure that underpins Ukraine's economy since its full-scale invasion, striking industrial sites, warehouses and logistics hubs, in addition to more conventional military targets. Ukrainian officials say this pattern of strikes is designed in part to degrade the country's capacity to sustain itself economically as the war continues.

Kyiv has had to balance the imperative of protecting civilians and workers during air raid warnings against the economic cost of repeated, sometimes lengthy, disruptions to business operations. The scale of the estimated hourly cost illustrates the challenge facing Ukrainian authorities as they try to sustain the economy through a prolonged conflict.

The comments come as Ukraine continues to seek international support, both military and financial, to help offset the costs of the war and to protect critical infrastructure from continued Russian strikes.

No further detail was given on how the $45m-per-hour figure was calculated, though it is presented by the ministry as a working estimate reflecting the economic disruption tied to halted business activity during alerts.