Winter attacks by russia on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports at the end of 2025 reduced their capacity and negatively affected exports of agricultural and mining products, which remain key sources of foreign currency revenues during the war, ProAgro Group reports.
According to Reuters, citing industry sources, ports in the Odesa region — Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi — have been among the main targets since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Around 90% of Ukraine’s exports pass through this hub. Despite the attacks, Ukraine has managed to maintain its own maritime corridor along the coast, including through the use of naval drones.
The intensity of strikes surged in December following statements by vladimir putin about plans to “cut Ukraine off from the sea.” Industry sources say that in December alone, 13 civilian vessels were damaged, mostly bulk carriers used to transport grain and iron ore. This accounts for nearly 10% of all vessels hit since the start of the war.
According to transport sector estimates, strikes on Odesa region ports reduced their export capacity to around 30% of pre-war levels. While overall export volumes are currently constrained more by reduced production than port capacity, the attacks have driven up logistics and freight costs. This has forced Ukrainian producers to lower prices to remain competitive on global markets. Regular power outages have further aggravated the situation.
In December, ports were able to ship only about 75% of planned volumes, while in January the figure recovered to 84%. According to Ukraine’s Maritime Ports Administration, air raid alerts were issued more than 800 times in the Odesa region in 2025, with total port downtime exceeding one month.
Agricultural products account for more than 50% of Ukraine’s export revenues, which amounted to about $23 billion last year, Deputy Economy Minister Taras Vysotskyi said. Overall agricultural exports declined due to a smaller harvest and adverse weather, while attacks also disrupted shipment schedules. Exports of agricultural goods fell to 3.7 million tonnes in December, compared with 4 million tonnes in November, and remained at that level in January.
According to Svitlana Lytvyn from the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, the suspension of port operations during shelling and even air raid alerts significantly delays shipments. At the same time, agricultural exports began to recover in February as the intensity of attacks decreased. Data from Ukrzaliznytsia show that shipments to ports increased by 7% in the first 17 days of February, reaching about 1.4 million tonnes.
In addition, since late 2025 russia has intensified attacks on railway infrastructure. According to the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, 266 attacks on trains and railway facilities have already been recorded in 2026. Damage to the network, power outages and the forced use of diesel locomotives instead of electric ones have significantly increased delivery times to ports and transportation costs.
As reported earlier, in October–December 2025 russia sharply intensified attacks on Ukraine’s maritime logistics, damaging at least 20 commercial vessels and destroying or severely damaging nearly 50 port infrastructure facilities.
