Pakistan, Sept. 13 -- Ukraine is bracing for a brutal winter as intensified Russian attacks on the country's infrastructure and key export industries compound a deepening budget crisis, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.

Economy Minister Oleksandr Kravchenko said that damage to infrastructure and fixed assets from Russian air strikes was estimated at close to $10 billion this year, while the broader economic costs of the attacks and the de facto blockage of its ports were seen at about 1.5 percentage points of gross domestic product.

"We anticipate a very difficult winter in terms of both critical infrastructure, which is being destroyed every day by Russian attacks, but also in terms of overall economic conditions in the country," K...