Russia launched more than 800 drones at Ukrainian port infrastructure during the first four months of 2026 — over ten times the 75 UAVs fired at the same targets in the same period of 2025, Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister of Development of Communities and Territories Oleksii Kuleba reported on Telegram.
Ports remain among Russia's priority targets, according to the minister.
Cumulative damage: 900+ port objects and 177 civilian ships since 2022
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, more than 900 objects of Ukrainian port infrastructure have been damaged or partially destroyed, Kuleba said, with 177 civilian vessels among them.
He laid out the year-on-year escalation in plain numbers: 75 drones aimed at port infrastructure in January–April 2025, against more than 800 in January–April 2026.
Despite the intensification, the country's ports have kept operating. Kuleba reported that nearly 30 mn tonnes of cargo had been handled since the start of the year.
Veteran-staffed air defense crews report first shootdowns at ports
The minister also pointed to a relatively new line of defense: air defense crews stationed inside the ports themselves. According to Kuleba, the units are formed from port enterprise employees — most of them veterans of the full-scale war — and, although they are deployed at state-owned facilities, they are subordinated organizationally to the Ukrainian Air Force.
"We already have the first shootdowns," Kuleba reported.
The vice prime minister framed the broader objective as twofold: hardening port defenses while keeping cargo moving despite the daily strikes.
