August M
Ukraine’s energy system remains under constant attack, but a new pattern has emerged in recent weeks. Missile and drone strikes are increasingly hitting a different kind of target, one that directly affects civilians’ daily survival.
According to United24media, Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine’s pharmaceutical supply chain, with devastating consequences for healthcare and access to medicine.
Warehouses under fire
Since October 2025, Russian strikes have repeatedly hit pharmaceutical warehouses across Ukraine. In just two months, four major storage facilities have been destroyed, causing losses estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ukraine’s pharmaceutical market is valued at $4–5 billion annually. Within weeks, around 10% of that capacity has been wiped out, according to industry estimates cited by United24media.
Kyiv strike
On October 25, Russia launched another missile attack on Kyiv, killing two people and injuring 13. Dozens of buildings were damaged.
Soon after, Optima-Pharm, Ukraine’s largest pharmaceutical distributor with a 45% market share in 2023, confirmed that one of its warehouses had been hit.
That night, Russia fired nine ballistic missiles at the capital, four of which were intercepted.
One missile struck an Optima-Pharm warehouse, destroying it completely and damaging company offices. The losses were estimated at $100 million, United24 Media reports.
Repeated losses
According to United24 Media, less than a month later another Optima-Pharm warehouse was destroyed in Dnipro. The company did not disclose losses, but the site was its central warehouse, covering 29,000 square metres.
The distributor had already lost another warehouse to a Russian strike in August 2025. The scale of that damage was also not made public.
In early December, Russia destroyed the warehouse of BaDM, Ukraine’s second-largest pharmaceutical distributor. Together, Optima-Pharm and BaDM control about 87% of the market.
Civilian pressure
United24media said that these strikes appear designed pressuring civilians. Power outages now last up to 15 hours in some regions.
By destroying pharmaceutical infrastructure, deliveries are delayed and costs rise, threatening Ukraine’s healthcare system.
Rebuilding will require tens of millions of dollars and significant time.
The precision of the strikes suggests deliberate targeting, aimed at making normal life impossible and pressuring the population to surrender.
Sources: United24media
