Due to Russian attacks, warehouse space in the Kyiv region has decreased by 34%

Despite the commissioning of approximately 150,000 square meters of new warehouse space in the Kyiv region during the first half of 2026, Russian missile attacks on logistics infrastructure led to a 34% reduction in total warehouse space. Due to the destruction, companies have been forced to seek new facilities, and the shortage of available warehouses has caused rental rates to rise.

During the first six months of 2026, the commissioning of new warehouse facilities increased. As of the end of June, total supply had recovered to its pre-war 2021 level, reaching 1.6 million square meters.

 

However, due to widespread destruction caused by Russian attacks, the volume of available warehouse space had shrunk to 1.05 million square meters by August.

Damage to the logistics infrastructure forced companies to seek new sites for their operations. This created additional demand for warehouse real estate: gross absorption of space in the Kyiv region from January through August increased by 6% compared to the same period last year and totaled nearly 180,000 square meters.

While organic demand prevailed at the beginning of the year, 82% of transactions in July–August were related to businesses being forced to relocate due to military operations.

Among the main tenants of warehouse space:

• logistics operators — 42%;
• wholesale and retail trade—38%;
• the FMCG sector — 20%.

By the end of August, the warehouse vacancy rate had fallen to a technical low of 1%. This indicates a virtual absence of available properties that can be leased immediately. The shortage is particularly acute in the multi-temperature warehouse segment.

Limited supply has driven up rental rates. Since the beginning of the year, asking prices have risen by an average of 10%—to $4.7–6 per square meter per month, or approximately 210–270 UAH.

At the same time, the effective prime rate for dry warehouse space has reached $5.7 per square meter per month, excluding VAT and operating costs.

According to experts, high demand for warehouse real estate will continue. However, the shortage of available space will limit the actual number of deals closed.

Natalia Sokyrko, Director of the Warehouse and Industrial Real Estate Department at Expandia, noted that new construction will not be able to fully compensate for the losses caused by the war.

“The completion of new facilities will partially alleviate the space shortage, but it will not compensate for the loss of warehouse supply,” said Natalia Sokyrko.

According to the study, 50% of Class A and B warehouse space has been destroyed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This amounts to approximately 2.1 million square meters out of the 4.2 million square meters that existed in the country before the war.

In the Kyiv region alone, the loss of warehouse real estate reached 68%.

New construction has been able to compensate for only 38% of the destroyed facilities—about 0.8 million square meters. As a result, the total available warehouse stock in Ukraine currently stands at approximately 2.9 million square meters.

Thus, despite the emergence of new warehouse facilities, the destruction of logistics infrastructure continues to impact the real estate market. The shortage of space in the Kyiv region is intensifying competition among tenants and contributing to further increases in rental rates.

This is evidenced by data from a study conducted by Expandia, the representative of CBRE in Ukraine and Moldova.

As a reminder, as a result of the Russian attack on October 27, a warehouse belonging to the “Family Leisure Club” (KSD) publishing house—which stored approximately 300,000 books—was damaged. KSD announced this on October 28.

On October 27, Russian occupiers struck the warehouse of the “Family Leisure Club” (KSD) publishing house. The shelling of the area where the facility is located caused damage, but none of the company’s employees were injured. As a result of the enemy attack, the publishing house has been forced to postpone the launch of new book releases, originally scheduled for November 5, in order to assess the damage and adjust future plans. 

On the afternoon of October 28, a Russian drone attacked a warehouse in Sumy. The strike caused a fire; one person is reported to have been injured.