Before you start

An unlocked phone — eSIM is supported by all three operators
For registration: a passport, or your residence permit
Cash or a card; SIMs are sold everywhere including supermarkets

Step-by-step

1
Buy a SIM on arrival — and consider two
Operator shops are dense and supermarkets sell starter packs. Ask for a tariff with a large data allowance rather than minutes; Ukraine's data prices are among the lowest in Europe. In Kharkiv the case for a second SIM on a different network is genuinely strong: when one operator's local sites lose backup power, the other may not have.
In personWho: YouTen minutesStarter packs are inexpensive; generous monthly bundles are typically a few hundred hryvnia
2
Install the alert app before anything else
Повітряна тривога is the first thing on the phone, ahead of the bank and the taxi apps. Add the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration's own channel and the city's, because curfew changes, outage schedules and security restrictions are announced there first and reach aggregators later.
Mobile appWho: YouTen minutes
3
Register the number to your document
At an operator shop with your passport or residence permit, or online where the operator supports it — Vodafone offers online registration, lifecell calls the process personification, and Kyivstar registers in shop against a Ukrainian or an international passport. It is not a legal obligation; it is what makes the number recoverable.
In personWho: YouFifteen minutesFree
4
Build the power kit
A large power bank, a head torch, a UPS for the home router and a car charger. Home fibre goes down with the building's power unless the router is on a UPS, and mobile coverage thins as an outage drains base-station batteries. This is a one-shopping-trip problem and it is the difference between an outage being an inconvenience and being an information blackout.
In personWho: YouOne shopping tripA decent power bank and a small UPS, a few thousand hryvnia together

Documents you’ll need

Passport or residence permit, for registration
An unlocked handset, or an eSIM-capable one
Nothing at all, if you only want a working prepaid SIM today

Things most newcomers don’t know

Here, the phone is the alert system.

Sirens do not reach everywhere and you will not always be outside. The push notification is how most people in Kharkiv actually learn about an alert, which makes battery, coverage and a second SIM safety decisions rather than convenience ones.

Source: community-reported

Ukraine does not require you to show a passport to buy and use a prepaid SIM.

It is genuinely unusual and catches people out in both directions — arrivals expect an ordeal and get none, then find months later that an unregistered number cannot be recovered after a theft.

Source: Kyivstar / Vodafone / lifecell registration pages

Kyivstar allows a maximum of ten numbers registered per document.

Relevant if you are setting up a team, a household or devices; the cap is on the document.

Source: Kyivstar

Connectivity in Kharkiv is a power problem before it is a network problem.

The masts are modern and the data is cheap. What takes you offline is an outage draining base-station batteries and killing your building's router.

Source: Харківська ОВА / community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Not installing the alert app on day one.
Not registering the number, then losing the phone.
Buying a tariff sold on call minutes. Almost nobody here calls; buy data.
Assuming home internet survives a blackout. It survives exactly as long as the router's power source does.
Relying on a single operator when your work — or your safety — depends on being reachable.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.