Russia is now hitting the German investment that helps keep Ukraine’s economy running. Russian strikes have forced one of the Zhytomyr Oblast's largest employers, the German-invested Kromberg & Schubert plant, to shut down completely, putting 3,600 jobs at risk, the Zhytomyr Regional Military Administration said.
Germany is Ukraine’s single biggest partner by volume of security aid, providing about a third of all support the country receives, according to Ukraine. Russia’s destruction of a German-owned factory strikes at the economic ties Kyiv most depends on.
The plant produced electrical onboard cable systems for world-class cars. Its closure will cost the region millions of hryvnias in tax revenue. Some of its workers may leave the country, while others move to company sites in other cities.
Regional Administration Head Vitalii Bunechko said the plant’s management and owners are working out options for the workers’ future. The authorities also promise maximum support if a decision is made to restart operations.
A war that now reaches every corner of the economy
The factory is one loss in a campaign that has widened far beyond the front. Russia has escalated its drone and missile attacks through 2026, striking first at power plants and residential blocks, then trains, factories, retailer warehouses and medicine depots across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Economy Ministry expects losses from Russian strikes to reach up to $10 billion this year, the same report noted. By late August, officials said Russia had destroyed about 90% of retail chains’ food logistics, a measure of how deep into civilian commerce the attacks now cut.
The slow bleed on businesses that survive
Even companies left standing lose working days to the strikes. Russia’s air war cost the average Ukrainian shopping mall 166.8 working days between 2022 and mid-2026, more than eight months of closed floors.
For Zhytomyr, the Kromberg & Schubert shutdown turns that slow erosion into an outright closure, removing a budget-forming employer at a stroke.
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