"Siren for the Sake of Silence: Cabinet Rewrites Function of Alert System"
Since March 2022, a minute of silence at 09:00 has existed as a presidential tradition — but without a unified signal across the country. The government closed this gap by allowing what several cities had already been doing unofficially.
By Tetiana Suchkova-Ladik
May 22, 2026 · 1 min read
What has long become commonplace in Kharkiv, Odesa, or Lviv—a sound signal through the city notification system daily at 09:00—has so far lacked a nationwide legal basis. The Cabinet of Ministers has corrected this.
Tradition without mechanism
A daily minute of silence at 09:00 was established by presidential decree No. 143/2022 dated March 16, 2022—to honor the memory of all those who died as a result of Russian armed aggression. However, the decree itself did not specify how to announce it across the entire country. Some cities activated sirens, others did not. No unified practice existed.
Now the Cabinet of Ministers has officially permitted the use of notification systems for this purpose. Daily at 09:00, a nationwide minute of silence will be announced through them.
"We are forming a new culture of remembrance. A daily minute of silence is an important part of it and a manifestation of our respect for the fallen Defenders, both men and women, and civilians."
— Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko
Not just war
Notification systems were also permitted to be used during the all-Ukrainian action "Light a Candle"—held annually on the fourth Saturday of November to honor the memory of victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933. That is, the decision concerns not only the military context—it establishes a broader infrastructure of state memory.
The paradox of the siren
Notification systems in Ukraine are associated with danger—air raids, evacuation. The state consciously repurposes the same audio channel for the opposite function: not "save yourself," but "stop and remember." In some cities—Kharkiv, Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv—the signal through the city notification system during the minute of silence was already being broadcast. The rest of the country is now connecting.
A question remains open: will regular use of sirens in a "peaceful" function blur their reflex effect—that immediate reaction on which the notification system relies in real danger? The answer will emerge if the practice becomes widespread and psychologists gather sufficient data.
