Russia plans emergency public warning tests on Wednesday

(Reuters) – Russia will run a nationwide test of its emergency public warning systems on Wednesday, letting sirens wail and interrupting television and radio broadcasts in a twice-yearly initiative amid the war in Ukraine.

At around 10.30 a.m. in most of Russia’s 11 time zones, sirens will sound for a minute, with loudspeakers broadcasting an “Attention everyone!” call, the emergency ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

The exercise aims to check the warning systems, the readiness of those responsible for launching them and to raise public awareness, the ministry said, adding, “Don’t panic – everything is according to a plan.”

The frequency of rehearsals was doubled from last year, following the first event held in 2020.

It comes amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, which Moscow started in 2022, triggering the deepest crisis in its relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)