Supermarket shelves in Kyiv are partly empty after Russian strikes hit food warehouses and logistics networks around the Ukrainian capital and other cities. The attacks are disrupting distribution and could push food prices higher, although officials and retailers differ sharply on the likely increase.
The latest barrage followed the abrupt end of a temporary truce intended to ensure the safe passage of US negotiators. Jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles struck Kyiv on Monday night, killing two people.
How the attacks are affecting food businesses
Taras Vysotsky, Ukraine’s agrarian policy and food minister, said logistics hubs serving all the country’s leading supermarket chains, including Novus, ATB, Silpo and Fora, had been destroyed or significantly damaged. He described the August-September 2026 strikes as a systemic attack on the internal civilian support system.
The disruption is also affecting medicines and other goods. A World Health Organization warehouse storing humanitarian aid on Kyiv’s outskirts was hit, while pharmaceutical company Biokon said three months of medicines were destroyed and that it had suspended operations.
Dmytro Krymskiy, co-founder of Bureau of Wine, said a warehouse near Kyiv was hit on 1 September, destroying €4m of stock. He said the company’s staff could work only three to four hours a day during the air raids, limiting its ability to move goods.
Why prices could rise
Vysotsky warned that damage to warehouse infrastructure could increase food prices by 2.5%. Krymskiy said the impact across some retail businesses could be as high as 15%, while estimating that his own prices could rise by about 5%.
Krymskiy said higher prices would reflect the cost of reorganising supply chains rather than a lack of supplies. He is considering moving warehouses to a neighbouring country such as Poland, using underground storage and dividing stock among several smaller sites. For additional context, see “Six killed across Ukraine as strikes hit several regions”.
His company’s warehouse losses add to damage from earlier strikes: an attack in 2022 destroyed €15m of supplies, while another in July destroyed goods worth €1.5m. He said the latest strike was the third time the warehouses had been hit since the full-scale invasion.
Residents try to maintain daily routines
Customers at supermarkets in Kyiv and Brovary said most people were not panic-buying as they had in 2022. Some shoppers were buying limited extra supplies, but fresh vegetables and fruit were being purchased cautiously because they could spoil.
Valentyna Sveshnikova, a 68-year-old pensioner, said she had noticed price increases, including for sausages. Other shoppers said they intended to remain in Ukraine and continue managing one day at a time despite the attacks.
What happens next
Krymskiy is exploring alternative storage and distribution arrangements, including smaller sites, underground facilities and a possible move to Poland, as the company seeks to reduce the risk of relying on one large warehouse.
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