Air raid alerts took a record share of shopping mall working hours in August

In August 2026, the share of working hours of Ukrainian shopping malls during which air raid alerts were in effect reached a record 21.8%. The previous maximum was set just a month earlier - in July, the figure was 20.1%.

This is evidenced by data from the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers.

In August, all indicators tracked by the organization worsened: the total number of air raid alerts, their number during shopping mall working hours, the total duration of alerts, and their duration directly during shopping mall working hours.

According to URTC calculations, on average in Ukraine, forced downtime of shopping malls due to air raid alerts in August alone was equivalent to 6.4 working days.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the accumulated indicator of such downtime has already reached an average of 166.8 working days.

The most difficult situation remains in the east

The largest share of shopping mall working time during air raid alerts in August was recorded in Donetsk region - 82%.

Next are Sumy region with 76.4%, Zaporizhzhia - 71.4%, Kharkiv - 60.3%, and Chernihiv - 40.1%.

For calculations, URTC analyzes air raid alerts in the time window from 10:00 to 21:00, i.e., mainly during shopping mall working hours.

In Kyiv, the figure increased more than threefold over the month

One of the sharpest deteriorations in August happened in Kyiv, where a significant portion of the country's largest shopping and entertainment centers operate.

In July, the share of working hours of capital malls during which air raid alerts sounded was only 3.3%. In August, it jumped to 11.6%.

The situation changed especially sharply in the second half of the month. In June, July, and the first half of August, an average of about five alerts were announced per week during the working hours of Kyiv malls.

In the penultimate week of August, their number increased to 12, and in the last week - already to 34.

The Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers notes that at the end of the month, a significant portion of alerts began to occur not at night, but directly during store and mall working hours, which has a much stronger impact on retail.

On August 27, alerts lasted 68% of mall working time

While for most of the summer, the share of working time of capital malls under air raid alerts averaged about 3%, in the penultimate week of August it increased to 10.3%.

In the last week of the month, the indicator already reached 30.1%.

The worst day was August 27. Then air raid alerts in Kyiv lasted during 68% of shopping mall working time. URTC called this level critically high for most retailers.

Thus, the problem for retail is no longer only the overall increase in the number of attacks, but also the shift of air raid alerts to daytime hours, when malls receive the main flow of visitors.

Based on materials: Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers, Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers