Russia has destroyed more than half of the Kyiv region's pre-war warehouse capacity since its full-scale invasion began, after strikes overnight on August 5 hit 10 warehouse facilities totalling about 100,000 square metres, according to Ukrainian real estate analysts cited by Ukraine Business News.

The Kyiv region's warehouse real estate market has now lost more than 1.2mn square metres, over half of its pre-war stock, with more than 400,000 square metres destroyed since the start of July alone. That is a sharp acceleration from the roughly 500,000 square metres destroyed across the whole of Ukraine over the preceding 12 months, as IntelliNews reported in July - the Kyiv region alone has now roughly matched that nationwide total in a single month.

The attack is part of a wider Russian campaign against Ukraine's civilian logistics and retail infrastructure -  after  Operation Wildberries, Russia's own e-commerce warehouses came under reciprocal Ukrainian attack - and it is now large enough to move rental prices and squeeze the supply chains that keep Kyiv shops and online retailers stocked.

Despite record construction activity, new development cannot keep pace with the scale of destruction, and there is now almost no vacant warehouse space left in the Kyiv region, particularly large blocks of 10,000 square metres or more that retail chains and logistics operators depend on. The shortage is forcing companies to redesign supply chains, and analysts expect it to push warehouse rental rates up by 7-10%, raise transportation costs and eventually filter through to consumer prices.

The trend was already visible before this month: one of the region's largest hubs, the 100,200-square-metre Amtel logistics complex in Bilohorodka, was almost completely destroyed in a July 19 missile strike that wiped out inventory belonging to Goodwine, WOG, Hilti and several other companies; its owners say rebuilding could take six to ten months.

The government is preparing a package of support measures in response to the latest attacks. Companies will get priority access to state-owned premises to help decentralise storage and reduce the risk of further losses, while a separate meeting between the banking sector and relevant ministries is planned to discuss credit support for affected businesses.

The current campaign is not the first time Russia has targeted logistics. Leading courier company Novo Poshta’s warehouse was completely destroyed in October 2023, killing several workers. The company rebuilt the facility and continues to make deliveries of packages right up to the frontline.