Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian warehouses, ports, steel plants, and railways could cost Kyiv more than $1.5 billion in lost tax revenue, The Financial Times reported on September 20.
Russia’s targeted air campaign against Ukraine’s economic infrastructure has caused a shortage of grocery staples in Kyiv supermarkets, leaving store shelves bare for the first time since the initial months of the full-scale invasion.
FT stated that the Russian attacks in August and early September followed “Ukraine’s own long-range drone campaign against Russian refineries, warehouses, and cargo ships,” which Ukrainian officials said is intended to curb Moscow’s revenues and force it back to the negotiating table.
The Financial Times cited Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi as saying that the state could lose some $1.5 billion in tax revenue because of the Russian attacks, as Kyiv faces a renewed budget shortfall estimated at $27 billion for 2026.
Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea is also costing Ukraine about 1.5% of its GDP. Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said alternative routes allowed Ukraine to export only 40% of its normal agricultural volumes.
Commercial Director of Ukrainian agricultural company TAS Agro Anton Zhemerdeev said the export bottlenecks had forced it to store wheat in huge silo bags laid out in empty fields.
“Right now it feels like it is closed from all sides,” he said. “We have closed port terminals, the Danube [route] is mostly closed as well because of strikes and the lack of people.”
Chief Economist at Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital Olena Bilan said that Ukraine was unlikely to post any economic growth this year. Companies affected by the strikes on warehouses will have “no choice but to pass the cost to consumers,” she warned.
“There is a war of attrition, and now an economic war of attrition – Russia is trying to hurt Ukraine’s economy as much as possible and so does Ukraine,” Bilan said.
The National Bank of Ukraine expects the country’s GDP growth to slow to between 1.1% and 1.2% this year, a downgrade from its previous estimate of 1.8% issued in July.
© 2026 The New Voice of Ukraine
The FT is a hard-nosed outlet that deals with cold facts. NV is a very reliable Ukrainian news source. Therefore this a very credible article, unfortunately.
The putinaZis still have tremendous advantages, thanks mainly to their vile asset Krasnov and the fecklessness of Ukraine’s remaining allies.
Could the Turks be persuaded to open up the Bosphorus to western navel power? I actually think that they could. But the question is what allies of Ukraine have that sea power and would any of them be prepared to offer it?
Unlikely.
A combined naval presence and NFZ over Ukraine would fuck the putinaZis up well. Will anyone do it?
Here come the crickets and tumbleweeds ….
Garry Kasparov :
Kasparov: Europe must stop hesitating and respond to Putin with the same speed and severity with which the Kremlin wages war.
The West will not be safe as long as the Russian state exists in its current form. As long as Putin’s regime survives, it threatens democracies around the world.
The war will not end if Putin gets the Donbas. It will move on to the Baltics, and then to the rest of Europe.
Putin needs an attack on NATO not so much for a military victory as to keep breaking Western institutions. He operates like a KGB agent.
Europe is beginning to wake up, but far too slowly. At one point, tough diplomacy would have been enough. Later, sanctions could have worked, had they been enforced. Later still, greater but limited military aid to Ukraine. Now none of that is sufficient.
Europe must do everything for Ukraine’s victory and the collapse of Putin’s regime.
Fully close Ukraine’s skies. Immediately provide all the weapons it needs. No delays.
Enforce the sanctions that already exist. Russia evades them on a massive scale, and Europe knows through whom. These schemes must be hit with every available mechanism.
Sever diplomatic relations with Russia. Recall ambassadors from Moscow. Expel Russia from international organizations built on democratic principles. Stop treating it as a normal state.
Frozen Russian state assets must be confiscated now and transferred to Ukraine’s war needs.
Source: translated from Tymofiy Mylovanov
Roman Sheremeta :
I wrote this post past year after Trump invited Putin:
“After Putin met with Trump in Alaska, he decided to continue military escalation against Ukraine. The Alaska talks convinced Putin that Trump is not interested in doing anything to stop russia. In the month following the Trump-Putin talks, the number of russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine increased by 46%.”
Nothing changed.
Also from NV :
Kyiv dropped autumn election plan after Zaluzhnyi and Budanov refused to step aside
https://english.nv.ua/amp/fall-election-dropped-as-generals-refused-to-step-aside-50643154.html