Повітряна тривога
(AIR RAID ALERT) - What if all of this happened right outside your door?
Since 24 February 2022 the sirens have been sounding across Ukraine - often several times a
night. Повітряна тривога (Ukrainian for "air raid alert") shows these real
alerts in near real time on a map of Ukraine. And it transfers them
to scale onto your own location: every affected area appears exactly as far
from you, and in the same direction, as it really lies from Kyiv.
An artistic awareness project, not a warning app. No account, no tracking - the app only
needs your location (which stays on the device) and, if you want, permission to send a push
notification for the next alert.
Free for iPhone (iOS 16 or later). Coming soon to the App Store. The app is currently
available in German only.
What the app shows
- Two maps: Ukraine with all active and past alerts of the last 30 days - and your surroundings with the same alerts, shifted onto you
- One pin per area: alerts apply to raions (districts) or whole oblasts (regions), not to individual impact sites
- Pin colour = type of alert: air raid, artillery shelling, urban fights, chemical and nuclear threat
- Region glows: the more alerts an oblast has had, the brighter it glows
- Push notification for every new alert - optionally only within 50, 100 or 200 km of you on the shifted map
Where the data comes from
The app uses the official Ukrainian air raid alerts, the same ones
broadcast via sirens and the state warning apps. They are provided through the API of
the volunteer project alerts.in.ua,
which aggregates alerts from every administrative level - from oblast to raion down to
the individual community (hromada).
A server job polls the API every minute, so the app shows new alerts with a delay
of at most one minute.
Privacy by design
- No account, no tracking - no analytics or advertising SDKs, no crash reporting
- Location stays on the device - it is only used locally to shift the map and is never transmitted
- Push without identity - for notifications our backend stores only the anonymous Apple push token, the app language and your chosen radius
- Delete any time - uninstall the app, done
Details in the privacy policy.
Support & contact
Questions, problems or feedback about the app? Write to me - I am happy to reply.
Support e-mail:
tryvoha@borisniehaus.de
The app is free and ad-free. If you want to support the project:
donate via PayPal.
Legal details (provider, address) are in the
imprint (German).
A suggestion
Try living with the alerts for one week. With every notification, think about where you
would run to - in Ukraine, depending on the threat, people have a few minutes for that,
with ballistic missiles sometimes less. For the people there this has been everyday
reality for years, often several times a night.
Frequently asked questions
What does an alert on the map mean?
In Ukraine, an air raid alert is issued for an administrative area - usually a raion
(comparable to a district), for large-scale threats a whole oblast (comparable to a
federal state) - for example when fighter jets take off or cruise missiles or drones
are inbound. An alert does not automatically mean an impact, but everyone in that area
has to expect one and should seek shelter. A pin therefore stands for an area under
alert, not for an impact site.
How does the transfer onto my location work?
The anchor is Kyiv. For every alert the app calculates distance and bearing from Kyiv
to the affected area and plots the same vector from your location. If an alert lies
400 km east of Kyiv, it appears 400 km east of you. The calculation happens on the
device; your location never leaves it.
Is this a warning app?
No. Повітряна тривога is an artistic project that wants to raise awareness of the
constant threat people in Ukraine live with. If you are in Ukraine, please rely
exclusively on the official warning channels. There is no guarantee that the data is
complete or up to date.
What data does the app collect?
No usage data. There is no account, no tracking, no analytics or crash SDKs. Your
location is processed on the device only. For push notifications our backend
(Supabase) stores your device's anonymous push token, the app language and the chosen
radius - nothing else. Details in the
privacy policy.
Why are there alerts at all?
Since 24 February 2022 Russia has been waging a full-scale war of aggression against
Ukraine. Cities and infrastructure across the whole country are attacked with
missiles, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, glide bombs and Shahed drones -
regularly far behind the front line, often at night and deliberately against the
energy supply. Much is intercepted, but not everything - which is why going to the
shelter at every alert remains the civilian population's most important defence.
Is there an Android version?
Not at the moment - Повітряна тривога is an iOS app (iPhone, iOS 16 or later). Its
sister app Die Farbe Rot does the
same for rocket alerts in Israel.
Important: Повітряна тривога is not a warning app and gives no guarantee that the data is
accurate, complete or up to date. For your own safety, rely exclusively on official warning
channels. Data sources: air raid alert data from
alerts.in.ua (Ukrzen team);
raion coordinates from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors
(ODbL);
oblast outlines from geoBoundaries
(CC BY 4.0). Details in the imprint and the
privacy policy.