Since Russian tanks first rolled into Ukraine in February 2022, tremors have been felt far beyond.
More than three years on, Vladimir Putin has redrawn not just borders in his landgrab, but the blueprint of global trade.
Flight paths between Europe and Asia have changed course as airlines began avoiding Russian and Ukrainian airspace.
Europe’s gas taps have also been shut. Once reliant on Russian pipelines, the continent is now paying premium for liquified natural gas (LNG) from Norway, the US and Qatar.
And Russian grain once bound for European ports is now exported to the Maghreb region and parts of Africa.
With the war showing no signs of ending – despite ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in Istanbul – Metro examines its long-term consequences.
Putin rerouting global travel
Aviation has been severely restricted by Putin’s invasion. Ukraine closed its airspace to commercial flights the day the war started and the EU shut its airspace to Russian aircraft on February 28, 2022.
In turn, Russia banned 36 countries, including the EU, from its airspace on the same day. These restrictions remain in place today.
Studies have found that around 5% to 10% of all international flights have had to change or extend their routes due to these restrictions.
For example, a trip from Helsinki to Tokyo lasted about nine hours and 10 minutes before the war. Currently, it is almost five hours longer.
Russian tourists now also have limited access to Europe, while European carriers face what they call unfair competition from Chinese airlines that do not have to avoid Russian airspace on Asia-bound routes.
Europe’s gas taps shut off
Before the war, Russia accounted for around 14% of global oil and 9% of natural gas supply.
It was the EU’s largest natural gas supplier, with a market share of 40%, thanks to five decades of investment in pipeline infrastructure.
Since then, Russia has lost ground to other LNG suppliers. And last year, Russian gas shipments to the EU dropped to 15 billion cubic meters from 201.7 billion cubic meters in 2021.
The main pipelines transferring Russian natural gas to Europe – the Nord Stream 1, 2, and Yamal-Europe – stopped shipments from Ukraine at the start of 2025.
Nord Stream were also sabotaged in September 2022.
The TurkStream gas pipeline is now the only route for Russia to ship to Europe.
While the US exported around 17 million tons of LNG per year before the war, the country’s shipments to the EU reached 50 million tons in 2023.
To offset losses in Europe, Russia is redirecting gas exports to Asia, particularly China, via the Power of Siberia pipeline.
Gazprom, Russia’s state energy giant, plans to launch Power of Siberia 2, also known as the Altai pipeline, to increase shipments to China.
The global breadbasket weaponised
Both Russia and Ukraine used to supply about 30% of global wheat, 32% of barley, and 50% of sunflower oil.
Putin has been accused of weaponising global food supplies by stealing grain, destroying farming equipment and blocking shipping routes as part of his war in
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