Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports this winter damaged at least 13 civilian vessels
20.02.2026 - 10:10
After a surge in attacks in December, ports were able to ship only about 75% of their planned volumes.
Winter Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports reduced the capacity of port infrastructure and hit exports of agricultural products and iron ore. This is reported by Reuters.
Russia sharply increased the intensity of attacks in December 2025, when Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to “cut Ukraine off from the sea.” It was during this period that the strikes damaged 13 civilian ships, mostly bulk carriers. According to Reuters, this is almost 10% of all ships damaged since the start of the full-scale war.
Shelling of ports in the Odessa region in recent months, according to Reuters interlocutors, has reduced their export capacity to 30% of the pre-war level. Attacks on port infrastructure have led to a sharp increase in logistics and transportation costs, forcing companies to lower prices to remain competitive on the global market.
The situation is also worsened by power outages following Russian attacks on the energy sector, which in some cases, according to market participants, makes production unprofitable. For example, due to air strikes, ports were able to ship only about 75% of planned exports in December. In January, when the intensity of the attacks decreased, this figure recovered to 84%.
According to the Ministry of Economy, in November Ukraine exported 4 million tons of agricultural products, and in December, at the peak of the attacks, the volumes decreased to 3.7 million tons and remained at this level in January.
At the same time, in February, the number of attacks on ports decreased, and exports picked up. In the first 17 days of February, shipments to ports increased by 7% compared to the same period in January, to about 1.4 million tons, according to railway data.
The USPA reported that in the Odessa region in 2025, air raids were declared more than 800 times, and the total downtime of ports exceeded one month.
Earlier, USM reported that shelling of ports leads to the accumulation of about 10 million tons of grain.
