“Since 24 February 2022, the first day of the unprovoked invasion, the Russian armed forces have been consciously destroying our country’s civil infrastructure. The amount of only well-documented losses has already exceeded US$90B and keeps growing with every new day of the war,” stated Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov.

As long as part of the Ukrainian south-eastern regions, including some seaports, remain occupied by the aggressors, it is currently difficult to assess the precise volume of damagers and losses, added Kubrakov.

The occupiers have not only ruined the Sea of Azov’s Port of Mariupol, but have also been trying to steal metals and other locally stored cargoes, according to the city’s mayor’s advisor Petro Andryuschenko,

In early May this year, Ukraine’s foreign ministry warned the Middle East’s grain-importing countries that Russia’s exports may contain grain stolen from occupied Ukrainian territory. 

The ministry alleges that there are numerous cases of Russian bulkers with stolen Ukrainian grain loading at the port of Sevastopol in annexed Crimea, for shipment to the Syrian harbour of Latakia, from where it had been shipped on to other Middle East destinations.

This month Kyiv formally closed down the harbours of Berdyansk, Mariupol, Skadovsk and Kherson, which are all under Russian military control in any case.

According to Ukraine’s Prime Mminister Denys Shmygal, the nation loses US$170M every single day due to Moscow’s ongoing blockade of commercial shipping in the Black Sea basin. Ukraine has not been able to export some 90 Mt of its agricultural products. There are almost 70 merchant vessels remaining blocked at the country’s ports.

Kremlin is attempting to squeeze out Kyiv, one of its main competitors, from international food markets and provoke a global crisis, in the Ukrainian premier’s opinion.

The war has more than halved Kyiv’s export capabilities. In addition to the heavily damaged or blocked seaports, the country has lost a quarter of its railway network (including 6,300 km of destroyed main lines), 23,573 km of motor roads, 289 highway bridges and 41 rail bridges

This year, Ukraine’s GDP is likely to shrink by 45.7% on 2021, according to an analysis of S&P Global Market Intelligence. It may take the nation up to five years to regain its last year’s economic results.