Key facts
- Ukraine's Health Ministry said Russia hit pharmaceutical warehouses and logistics facilities seven times in September alone.
- A strike on the Biocon logistics center near Kyiv cost the company over $333 million in lost goods and halted operations.
- Kusum said its Sumy plant was destroyed in an October 4 attack and estimated losses at $40-45 million.
- BaDM and Optima-Pharm handled nearly 75% of pharmacy deliveries by value in April 2026, per Apteka.ua.
- Ivan Zadvornykh of the European Pharmaceutical Association said pharmacies usually hold about another month of stock.
- Tabletki.ua data as of October 28 showed Levothyroxine almost impossible to find in eastern, northern and central Ukraine.
Russian strikes since August have damaged warehouses belonging to Ukraine's largest pharmaceutical logistics companies and the factories that supply them, leaving pharmacy shelves in parts of the country empty, the Kyiv Independent reported on November 5. Ukraine's Health Ministry told the outlet that Russia hit pharmaceutical warehouses and logistics facilities seven times in September alone, and that the strikes continued into October.
The two biggest distributors, BaDM and Optima-Pharm, handled nearly 75% of deliveries to pharmacies by value in April 2026, according to Apteka.ua. In early September, a strike on the Biocon Special-Purpose Logistics Center in Velyka Oleksandrivka Village near Kyiv cost the company over $333 million in lost goods and forced it to halt operations, the company reported. On September 13, Russian forces struck Universal Logistic, the country's second-largest pharmaceutical warehouse. Venta LTD, the third-largest distributor, lost a warehouse in Hostomel that served the Kyiv region, and BaDM's warehouses were hit in Odesa on September 14 and in Rivne on October 19.
Strikes on factories mean the warehouses cannot be refilled. In September, Russia attacked the Darnytsia plant in Kyiv, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, three times in six days. In October, it struck the Borshchahivka Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant. On the morning of October 4, an attack struck Kusum's plant in Sumy, killing an employee who had worked at the facility since its opening, the company stated. The facility was destroyed and cannot be restored, and Kusum told the Kyiv Independent it estimates its losses at $40-45 million. Some drugs made in Sumy were not produced anywhere else in Ukraine.
The Health Ministry's press service told the Kyiv Independent that the frequency of attacks indicates "systematic strikes against Ukraine's civilian pharmaceutical infrastructure." Ivan Zadvornykh, director of the European Pharmaceutical Association, told the outlet a nationwide drug shortage could become reality if the attacks continue, as pharmacies usually hold about another month of stock. The association's daily tracking shows disruptions only for certain categories of medications in specific regions.
Data from Tabletki.ua, a site Ukrainians once used to find the cheapest prices, showed that as of October 28 Levothyroxine was almost impossible to find in pharmacies in eastern, northern and central Ukraine. The Qlaira pill was widely unavailable in western Ukraine as of the same date, and Yaryna Plus and Jeanine were not available in any pharmacy, according to Tabletki.ua. Supplies of Yaz Plus have been restored and it is available almost everywhere except western Ukraine, according to the site as of October 28. The Kyiv Independent said several pharmacy chains did not respond to requests for comment.