Russian airstrikes have recently destroyed roughly 90% of retailers' food supply chains, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said on Friday.

In recent weeks, both countries have intensified attacks on economic targets such as large retail chains. Russia has reportedly targeted warehouses belonging to major supermarket chains in Ukraine, as well as the postal service and stores selling household goods.

"As of today, roughly speaking, 90% of food logistics operated by retail chains have been destroyed, but that doesn't mean Ukrainians will be left without food", Vysotskyi said, according to the Ukrinform news agency.

Reuters described his comments to reporters in Kyiv as the most candid official assessment yet of the damage Russia's escalating attacks have inflicted on Ukraine's fragile wartime economy, now in its fifth year.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, sugar, dairy products and other items have disappeared from the shelves of some supermarkets in Kyiv in recent weeks, following attacks on retailers' logistics warehouses.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range strikes deep inside Russia have targeted not only energy infrastructure and oil tankers in the Black and Azov Seas but also the warehouses of major online retailers.

(Reuters, im)