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$100 million estimated damage in strike on Ukraine's second largest drug distributor

The attack was part of a large scale overnight missile and drone strike on Ukraine's capital.

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People at a food market near the site of a massive rocket Russian missile strike, smoke rises in the background
Russian drone and missile strikes on Kyiv left two dead and multiple wounded in an overnight attack on October 25. Picture: Getty

By Alex Nichol

Russian forces struck Kyiv with drones and ballistic missiles on the night of October 25, reportedly destroying the office and warehouse complex of Ukraine's second-largest pharmaceutical distributor, Optima-Pharm.

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Preliminary estimates put the damage at up to $100 million, which was roughly the value of medicines stored on site.

The Ukrainian-Estonian joint venture Optima-Pharm is a leading supplier of pharmaceuticals and medical products. The company works with more than 500 Ukrainian and international manufacturers.

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The total area of warehouse destroyed in the attack is 29,000 square meters.

Optima-Pharm is ranked among the largest companies in Ukraine and is not the first pharmaceutical company to suffer from Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

In April, a direct hit by a Russian drone completely destroyed the warehouse of the Indian company Kusum in Kyiv, with total damages estimated at about 1 billion $24.2 million.

Russia is known for specifically targeting key pieces of civil infrastructure such as power stations, electrical grids, dams and transport hubs.