Russian strikes burn almost six months’ worth of cancer drug for Ukraine — now Kyiv is rethinking how it stores medicine
After months of Russian attacks on warehouses, the state drug buyer is shipping stock out to hospitals and regional depots.
Between November 10th and November 17th, 2023, Kateryna Nekrasova, head of the state enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine, revealed that Russian strikes destroyed an amount of a cancer drug equivalent to five to six months of Ukraine's requirements at one supplier's warehouse, according to an interview with ZN.ua. The attacks also damaged several other drugs in the warehouse.
Russians have been targeting Ukraine's pharmaceutical infrastructure throughout the autumn, with four pharmaceutical warehouses burning in September alone. Nekrasova's agency, which centrally purchases medicines and supplies them to hospitals free of charge, has now shifted away from maintaining months of supply in a single location.
The new plan involves delivering the lost drugs under alternative contracts, with delivery expected before the end of 2026. The agency cannot confirm whether treatment was interrupted as patient data is in a separate system, but the loss of stock does not necessarily indicate a nationwide shortage. The draft 2027 budget for Ukraine includes an additional UAH 5 billion for buffer stocks in oncology, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and other areas where supply disruptions have occurred, though securing the budget remains uncertain.
Russian attacks have targeted drug warehouses and plants across Ukraine, including the Darnytsia plant in Kyiv, the Kusum plant in Sumy, and the Borshchahivka plant in Kyiv.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
