Russia has stepped up its targeting of Ukrainian port infrastructure this year, Kyiv said on Monday, using more than 800 drones in its attacks ‌in the first four months of ​2026, more than 10 times the number in the same period a year ⁠ago.

Keeping seaports in the southern Odesa ​region open is crucial for Ukraine and its wartime ⁠economy as exports, mostly of grains and small volumes of metal, are key for its hard currency revenues as ‌it seeks to repel Russia.

Despite ​the attacks, more ‌than 30 million metric tons of cargo have been processed ‌at Ukraine's ports since the start of the year, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksii Kuleba said.

Ukraine's ⁠southern region has been ‌subject to ⁠almost daily Russian attacks in recent months, with officials regularly reporting ⁠damage ⁠to port infrastructure and warehouses.

Since the start of Moscow's full-scale ‌invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian strikes have damaged or partially destroyed more than 900 port ‌facilities, ​including 177 civilian vessels, ‌Kuleba said on the Telegram app.

Central bank data showed that year-on-year exports ​of goods from Ukraine rose by only 0.6% in March.