Air raid alerts are costing the Ukrainian economy tens of millions of dollars in lost income. Every hour that businesses remain idle because of the warnings costs the country about $45 million, The Guardian reported, citing Ukrainian Economy Minister Alexander Kravchenko.

When an alert is issued, employees have to leave their workplaces and operations are suspended until the threat passes. As a result, even companies that remain fully capable of functioning suffer financial losses simply because production and other business activity are forced to stop.

The impact is particularly severe in regions where air raid alerts can last as long as 10 hours a day. Kravchenko attributed the prolonged disruptions to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' lack of readiness to counter new Russian drones. According to his figures, Ukrainian industry has already suffered about $10 billion in losses this year.

Ukraine has also acknowledged problems in keeping pace with Russia in drone warfare. In August, Ukrainian Defense Ministry adviser Sergey Beskrestnov said the country was falling behind Russia in the «drone race.» He also acknowledged that Ukraine had still failed to develop an interceptor capable of countering jet-powered UAVs.