The escalation of the air war between Russia and Ukraine has inflicted major damage on Ukraine’s food logistics infrastructure, hitting warehouses and distribution centres. Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said on 28 August that Russian attacks had destroyed around 90% of the country’s modern facilities for storing goods, severely disrupting retail logistics.

Since the beginning of July, more than 400,000 sqm of commercial warehouse and logistics space has been destroyed or damaged, according to Forbes Ukraine’s analytical department. A single Russian strike on 5 August destroyed 10 warehouse facilities with a combined area of around 100,000 sqm in the Kyiv region, while other attacks have hit logistics facilities belonging to major retailers and food businesses.

Some processing companies tried to switch to delivering larger quantities of dairy products directly to supermarkets, but this practice is unlikely to provide much help. The dairy industry is particularly exposed to the disruption because its products require specialised refrigerated storage and strict temperature control throughout the supply chain.

According to Zupynas, the disruption is also likely to push dairy companies to shorten their supply chains and rely more heavily on regional suppliers. Producers located closer to major consumer markets may gain an advantage, while products from more distant regions could temporarily disappear from some shelves.

Fig.: Vectorportal