‘Everything except nukes’: As the world watches Wildberries, Russia unleashes war on Ukraine’s economy
As Ukraine captures global attention with dramatic strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure and e-commerce giants Wildberries and Ozon, Russia has unleashed its most devastating campaign yet against Ukraine’s economic infrastructure.
Supermarket shelves sit empty and gas stations in Ukraine face Russian drone attacks. Port activity has halted as ships avoid Ukrainian waters. Russia has launched a devastating economic assault on Ukraine, targeting post offices, supermarkets, factories, warehouses, gas stations, ports, civilian vessels, and railway infrastructure.
The attacks have crippled Ukraine's exports, resulted in retailer layoffs, mining shutdowns, and fuel shortages in the south and east. The National Bank predicts this could cost Ukraine 0.9% of its GDP this year. Russia, employing an increasingly sophisticated arsenal of drones and missiles, aims to weaken Ukraine economically and psychologically, as noted by leading research fellow Oleksandra Betliy.
Bogdan Kostetskyi of Barva Invest believes Russia lacks other options besides escalating the attacks. While Ukraine's strikes are alarming the Kremlin and hindering its war efforts, Russia's economy remains largely intact, with exiled Russian economist Konstantin Sonin predicting it won't collapse anytime soon. Ukraine is reaching out to international partners for support, expanding financial programs to aid affected businesses, but many companies continue to bear the brunt of Russia's attacks at their own expense.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Independent's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
