Russia ramping up strikes against Ukraine’s food warehouses and distribution infrastructure

Kyiv has faced shortages of several foodstuffs after a series of Russian strikes on warehouses and logistics centers, leading to disrupted supermarket deliveries and warnings of potential price hikes by Ukrainian authorities. The country's largest supermarket chains - Novus, ATB, Silpo, and Fora - have suffered significant damage to their logistics centers in recent weeks, with Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi stating that this is the largest wave of strikes against food infrastructure since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The strikes primarily target domestic civilian life-support systems, aiming to destroy logistics that supply Ukrainian cities with food. Experts estimate that the destruction of warehouses could lead to a food price increase of around 2.5%, although some businesses anticipate a steeper rise of up to 15%. For instance, a strike on September 1 resulted in €4 million worth of goods being lost at a warehouse near Kyiv.

Companies are forced to restructure their supply systems, moving goods to smaller warehouses, seeking underground facilities, and even relocating some stock to Poland due to constant air raid alerts limiting warehouse operations to just three to four hours a day. Additionally, Russia has been striking other critical infrastructure, including online retailers' logistics centers and medicine warehouses.

A recent attack destroyed a three-month supply of medicine at a Biokon warehouse, forcing the company to halt operations. Despite the ongoing strikes, residents of the Ukrainian capital have not yet begun stockpiling food, unlike in the early months of the Russian invasion in 2022, as there are no reported food shortages yet.