Israeli alert system to protect Kyiv likely to be operational in two months, says Ukrainian envoy to Israel

Jerusalem: The Ukrainian envoy to Israel on Thursday said that a missile detection system with Israeli design is being tested in Kyiv and might be operational in two months, giving Ukrainians more time to seek cover from Russian missile attacks. Israel agreed to share technologies with Ukraine last year even as it delayed fulfilling Kyiv’s requests for weapons. The Iron Dome, a short-range interceptor that Israel frequently used to take down rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza, was one of those requests. Israeli officials have withheld information regarding the detecting system being created for the Ukrainians in consideration of their government’s efforts to preserve good relations with Moscow. Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk said the system, fed with data from Ukrainian radars, is now being tested in the capital. “It allows for identifying the different objects, including ballistic missiles, and calculates where they will go and basically that allows us to close certain parts of the country rather than the whole country,” Reuters quoted him as saying, referring to the air-shelter orders current being issued when under attack. When complete, the system will warn residents of areas about to be struck by Russian missiles or drones, either by sounding sirens nearby or with alerts on cellphones, he said. The system would allow more precisely tailored messages that would sound the alarms in individual neighbourhoods under threat. “It will allow us to close Kyiv sectorially,” Korniychuk said. “Some residents will be told on their phones how much time they have to jump into their shelter, while in other parts of Kyiv people will be able to sit and have coffee. “What I know from our experts is that they have already started work and I do hope that, in accordance with our internal schedule, it will take another month or two to get it working in Kyiv,” he said, adding that five other cities would follow. The account appeared to track with the missile detection system used in Israel, which, according to one official, divides the country into around 1,700 zones, with Tel Aviv and Jerusalem subdivided into four or five zones each. The alerts, delivered over cellphone, automatic loudhailers and websites, give “times to shelter” in accordance with the distance of the target to the source of the launch, the official said. The shortest is 15 seconds, the longest three minutes. The alerts appear on the cellphones of Israelis who download the relevant military app - but only if they are in the impact zone. The app does not otherwise track users’ cellphones and is only activated if they happen to be in the impact zone. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.