Three in four Ukrainian advertising agencies and platforms say strikes on warehouses, factories and logistics hubs have pushed advertising budgets down, according to Wartime Barometer 2.0, a survey by IAB Ukraine that IAB Europe published on its knowledge hub on November 5, 2026. The study polled 65 companies - 40 advertising agencies and platforms and 25 advertisers - in a targeted online survey with fieldwork in October and November 2026, according to the report.

Its sharpest finding is a split between the two groups. In the first half of 2026, 56% of agencies and platforms and 56% of advertisers reported higher advertising budgets than a year earlier. In July to September, the picture diverged: the share of agencies and platforms reporting growth fell to 31% while 48% reported cuts, but among advertisers the share reporting growth rose to 64%. The report describes this as "differing assessments of market trends by the two groups of industry participants" and does not resolve it.

Search sits at the centre of what both groups protect. Not one of the 40 agencies and platforms named search as a channel cut first when budgets are optimised, and 78% call it a "must-have" even when budgets are cut. Television is the first to go, named by 55%. Recovery in volume has also not brought profit: commercial activity at most companies now exceeds March 2022 levels, yet profitability has fallen since January 2026 at 38% of agencies and platforms and 48% of advertisers.

"I am pleased to present the updated Barometer, which will help advertisers, marketing teams and all other stakeholders stay abreast of industry developments amid the escalation of hostilities and attacks on civilian infrastructure, logistics routes and warehouse facilities," wrote Anastasiya Baydachenko, chief executive of IAB Ukraine, in the report's foreword.

In Short

Ukraine's online advertising trade body asked 65 agencies, ad platforms and brands how Russia's war is affecting their business and their advertising in 2026. Most of them are doing more business than when the full-scale invasion began, but many are earning less, and attacks on warehouses and factories keep forcing companies to cut, delay or reshape their campaigns. The agencies and the brands described the summer quite differently, but both agree that search and social media are the last things they would drop, while TV, billboards and influencer deals go first.

The survey: 65 companies, two questionnaires

IAB Ukraine, registered as the NGO "Interactive Advertising Bureau Ukraine", ran two parallel questionnaires with largely identical questions, one for agencies and platforms and one for advertisers. According to the report, the scope covers "business activity and financial performance, advertising budget trends, planning practices, the impact of war-related factors and infrastructure losses, workforce changes, the use of artificial intelligence, and expectations regarding the future development of businesses and the advertising industry." The study combines percentages with open-ended answers, and the report is explicit about its limits: "The findings reflect the views of the surveyed companies and are intended to identify current trends and changes across the industry."

IAB Europe's summary page, credited to Nicole Laleva, frames the results as "a complex picture of resilience and growing uncertainty." According to IAB Europe, "many businesses have recovered or exceeded their early-2022 activity levels, profitability remains under pressure, advertising budgets have become increasingly unpredictable, and infrastructure destruction continues to disrupt operations and investment decisions." The full report is available as Wartime Barometer 2.0 through IAB Europe's knowledge hub.

Who answered

All 65 participants are named. The agency and platform group includes the Ukrainian operations of the large holding companies - Publicis Groupe Ukraine, WPP Media, Carat Ukraine, iProspect Ukraine and Havas DGTL Kyiv - alongside independent shops such as Netpeak, Promodo and Webpromo, and platforms including MEGOGO, MGID, Vidzone and Uklon Ads. Five of the 40 entries carry the name of RAZOM Group: RAZOM Group itself, Havas Media Ukraine, MADLAB, MORE and UM Ukraine.

Digital agencies make up 33% of that group, media agencies 20% and advertising platforms and media owners 15%. A quarter employ 26 to 50 people, and another quarter more than 100.

The 25 advertisers are larger. According to the report, 56% have more than 250 employees and 20% between 101 and 250, while companies with up to 25 staff account for 8%. FMCG and retail or e-commerce each account for 28% of the group, automotive for 12% and telecommunications and technology for 8%. Named participants include Mondelēz, Unilever Ukraine, Philips, Toyota Ukraine, Vodafone Ukraine, METRO Ukraine, Glovo Ukraine, Oschadbank, MHP, the Kopiyka retail chain, robota.ua and Amadeo, described as the official Pandora distributor in Ukraine.

The groups are small. With 25 advertisers, each company moves a result by 4 percentage points; with 40 agencies and platforms, by 2.5 points, by PPC Land's calculation. The report is labelled 2.0, but it does not reprint figures from an earlier edition, and IAB Europe's page does not refer to one, so the survey offers no wave-on-wave comparison.

Business has recovered. Profits have not

Measured against March 2022, which the report treats as the start of the full-scale invasion, most companies are working at higher volumes. According to the report, 60% of agencies and platforms report higher commercial activity than in March 2022, 18% are back to 76-100% of that level and 13% remain at 75% or less. Among advertisers, 52% are above the March 2022 level, 24% at 76-100% and 12% at only 26-50%.

The comparison with March 2026 is less comfortable. A third of agencies and platforms (33%) have exceeded their March 2026 activity, 38% are close to it, and 28% operate at no more than 75% of it. For advertisers the figures are 16% above, 40% at 76-100% and 28% at 75% or less, with 16% unable to assess. Capacity use follows the same pattern: 65% of agencies and platforms run above 75% of their maximum potential capacity, 30% of them above 90%, while 48% of advertisers run above 75% and only 4% above 90%.

Profit is where the recovery stalls. Since January 2026, profitability has declined at 38% of agencies and platforms - 25% slightly and 13% significantly - and risen at 18%, with 35% reporting no change. At advertisers, 48% report a decline (32% slightly, 16% significantly) and 20% an increase.

Prices went up regardless. Of the agencies and platforms, 48% raised the average price of their services in 2026 compared with 2025, 35% by 10-25%, while 40% held prices and 8% cut them. Among advertisers, 80% raised prices, 56% of them by 10-25%. The report concludes that "price increases alone do not necessarily translate into improved financial performance."

Where growth came from

Compared with 2025, agencies and platforms most often credit the adoption of AI and automation (25%), new Ukrainian clients (18%) and new service areas (15%), while 20% report no growth at all and only 5% cite bigger budgets from existing clients. Advertisers name AI and automation (64%), team productivity (60%) and new advertising channels (48%); 32% say they increased advertising budgets.

Budgets: one story from agencies, another from advertisers

The first half of 2026 looked similar from both sides. According to the report, 56% of agencies and platforms saw budgets rise in January to June compared with the same period of 2025 - most often by 10-25% (35%) - while 23% saw no significant change and 18% reported cuts. Among advertisers, 56% raised budgets, 40% by at least 10%, 16% held them and 8% cut.

The third quarter is where the two accounts part. Among agencies and platforms, 31% reported budget growth in July to September against the same quarter of 2025, and 48% reported cuts: 20% by less than 10%, 18% by 10-25% and 10% by more than 25%. The report calls this a deterioration that contrasts "with the predominantly positive growth trend in the first half of the year." Advertisers reported the opposite movement. At 64% of them budgets rose, with 28% reporting growth of more than 25%, while the share reporting cuts rose to 28% from 8% in the first half.

The report does not explain the gap. The two groups are built differently: the advertiser group is dominated by large companies, while agencies and platforms answer for client portfolios that the survey does not describe.

Predictability and planning horizons

Agencies and platforms see far less certainty. According to the report, 75% say advertising budgets have become less predictable than in 2025, 45% significantly so, and only 8% report an improvement. Compared with the first half of 2026, 71% say predictability fell further, and none reported an improvement.

Advertisers are split almost evenly: against 2025, 32% report improved predictability and 28% a decline; against the first half of 2026, 32% and 32%.

Planning horizons differ by design. More than half of agencies and platforms (53%) plan advertising budgets one to three months ahead, 13% four to six months and 33% seven to twelve months. Among advertisers, 60% plan seven to twelve months ahead, 8% four to six months and 32% three months or less. Neither group plans beyond a year.

Long horizons do not mean stable plans. At 76% of agencies and platforms, approved campaigns or budgets are revised because of external circumstances at least once every one to two months, 33% monthly. Among advertisers, 64% revise that often, and only 8% almost never. Baydachenko's foreword says she hopes the report "will be a useful tool for annual planning and for adapting companies' tactics over the next 3-6 months."

Which channels survive the cuts

Search: the channel nobody cuts first

Search is the most protected channel in the survey. According to the report, 40% of agencies and platforms saw search budgets increase in 2026 and 5% saw them fall. None identified search as a priority for cuts, which, the report says, suggests "it is considered important for maintaining advertising effectiveness." And 78% consider it a must-have even when budgets shrink. When infrastructure damage forced reductions, only 3% of agencies and platforms reported cuts to search.

Advertisers say much the same. Over half (52%) increased search budgets and 4% reduced them; 4% name search among the channels cut first; 68% call it a must-have. No advertiser reported reducing search because of infrastructure damage. One detail stands out: 16% of the 25 advertisers do not use search at all, according to the channel breakdown.

The weight of search in Ukraine's market makes the finding significant for anyone buying or selling there. When IAB Ukraine published its market overview in June, paid search accounted for 47% of Ukraine's digital ad spending in 2025 and grew 25%, with a forecast of 20% growth in 2026.

Social media and video

Digital video and social media share the lead for growth. Among agencies and platforms, 40% reported higher budgets for digital video and 40% for social media in 2026; among advertisers, 60% for digital video and 56% for social media. Advertisers rate social media as the most essential channel of all - 84% call it a must-have, ahead of search (68%) and digital video (64%). Agencies and platforms put social media at 53% and digital video at 45%.

Advertisers also name social media (12%) and search (4%) among the channels cut first, so the two "remain priorities while also being subject to budget optimization," in the report's words.

Influencer marketing: growing and exposed

Influencer marketing grows and gets cut at the same time. Among advertisers, 44% increased influencer budgets in 2026 and 20% reduced them, and it is the channel they cut first, named by 60%. Among agencies and platforms, 33% saw influencer budgets rise, 15% fall, and 38% list it among the first cuts. Only 15% of agencies and platforms and 32% of advertisers call it a must-have.

One agency respondent, writing about opportunities, cited a growth number: "Influencer marketing will also continue to grow: according to IAB forecasts, this segment is expected to expand by a further 18% in 2026." PPC Land's coverage of IAB Ukraine's June market overview reported different figures - influencer marketing grew 18% in 2025, while the 18% forecast for 2026 applied to the digital market as a whole, with no separate 2026 influencer forecast.

TV, outdoor, CTV and print

Traditional channels absorb the cuts. Among agencies and platforms, TV (55%) and outdoor (45%) are cut first, followed by digital display and influencer marketing (38% each) and DOOH (35%). TV budgets increased at only 5% of agencies and platforms and decreased at 20%. Print is the channel most often unused, at 40%.

Among advertisers, outdoor, TV and radio are each cut first by 48%, followed by DOOH at 40% and connected TV and print at 32% each. Many advertisers have dropped traditional media from the mix altogether: 68% do not use print, 52% do not use TV, 48% do not use radio and 44% do not use connected TV.

CTV shows a gap between sellers and buyers. Among agencies and platforms, 30% reported higher CTV and digital TV budgets in 2026 and 3% lower. Among advertisers, 16% increased CTV budgets and 8% cut them. Only 4% of advertisers call CTV a must-have, against 18% of agencies and platforms.

One advertiser's open answer addressed this directly: "Media holding companies are attempting to shift TV budgets to CTV without a corresponding shift in audience. The capabilities of CTV are being overstated in aggressive sales efforts. The lack of transparency in how global media platforms such as Google and Meta calculate their results has led advertising agencies to resist reallocating clients' budgets to these channels. This significantly slows the development of Ukraine's advertising market." The complaint about walled gardens marking their own homework is not new; PPC Land reported in March 2025 on an analysis arguing that Google and Meta have refused to let joint industry committees measure their platforms.

Warehouses, logistics and the campaign calendar

The war affects the two groups in different ways. For agencies and platforms, the consequences with the greatest operational impact are advertising budget instability (80%), interrupted or postponed campaigns (75%) and shorter planning horizons (70%), followed by psychological strain on teams (68%) and destroyed or damaged infrastructure (65%).

Advertisers rank the physical damage first. Destruction or damage to warehousing, production or logistics infrastructure leads at 68%, followed by air raid alerts (60%), changes in consumer behaviour (56%) and power outages (48%). Budget instability, the top concern of agencies and platforms, is cited by only 16% of advertisers, and campaign interruptions by 12%.

How much infrastructure has been hit

According to the report, 85% of agencies and platforms say war-related damage to warehousing, production or logistics infrastructure has affected operations, 75% significantly; only 13% say it has not. Among advertisers, 80% report an impact - 48% significant and 32% minor - and 12% none. The question is worded identically for both groups and asks about "your company"; the report does not separate damage to agencies' own facilities from damage at their clients.

Both groups put the scale at the same number. Agencies and platforms estimate that the damage has significantly affected an average of 27% of their advertiser clients' businesses. Advertisers estimate that it has significantly affected an average of 27% of their own business.

The consequences are concrete. Agencies and platforms most often cite logistics and delivery disruptions (75%), loss of part of the product range (70%), lower revenue and sales (60%), reduced inventory (55%) and relocated production or warehouses (50%). Advertisers list logistics and delivery disruptions (52%), reduced inventory (48%) and loss of part of the product range (36%), and 24% temporarily suspended sales.

One agency respondent described the pattern as "Strikes on clients' warehouses (every week, some clients suffer product losses)". Another named the "Destruction of data centres", and an advertiser pointed to "Warehouses and data centres."

What the damage did to advertising

This is where the headline figure comes from. For 76% of agencies and platforms, infrastructure damage led to advertising budget cuts - 33% significant and 43% slight - and only 8% saw budgets kept steady but reallocated. None reported budgets rising after operations resumed.

Advertisers report a milder effect on their own spending. According to the report, 24% cut advertising budgets because of infrastructure damage (8% significantly), 20% kept the total but changed allocation, 28% reported no impact and 8% increased budgets after resuming operations. And 44% of advertisers said advertising activity was not reduced at all.

Where cuts happened, brand work went first. Agencies and platforms most often saw reductions in brand advertising (40%), video and TV (38%) and influencer marketing (33%), and 33% saw all advertising activity reduced. Performance advertising was cut by 13% and search by 3%. Among advertisers, other offline activities (24%) and influencer marketing (20%) were reduced most often, and 12% suspended all advertising.

The damage also shapes what is advertised and where. According to the report:

  • 63% of agencies and platforms say advertising recovered more slowly than business operations because of inventory or logistics problems, 38% frequently. Among advertisers the figure is 20%, and 52% saw no such lag.
  • 51% of agencies and platforms say the loss or shortage of specific products changed advertising strategy very or fairly frequently, against 32% of advertisers.
  • 41% of agencies and platforms say product availability changed campaign geography, most often by restricting campaigns to regions where products were available (28%). Among advertisers, 36% changed geography: 16% restricted campaigns and 16% shifted them to other regions.

An agency respondent set out what this means on set: "Strikes on clients' warehouses can disrupt an entire content plan overnight: products we have already filmed and planned to promote over the coming weeks may suddenly become unavailable for sale."

The role of advertising has shifted with it. After significant physical losses, 43% of agencies and platforms say advertising became "more tactical and sales-oriented", and 33% say it became a lower priority because businesses had to rebuild. Among advertisers, 28% describe advertising as a tool for sustaining demand during recovery, 28% as more tactical, and 8% as a lower priority.

The effect is not over. Among agencies and platforms, 86% say the consequences of infrastructure damage still affect advertising budgets (58% significantly), and 75% expect physical losses to remain a significant or very significant constraint on Ukrainian advertisers' investment over the next one to two years. Among advertisers, 44% say budgets are still affected and 56% expect a significant or very significant constraint over the same period.

Energy also features in the open answers. One agency respondent named "Power outages, as they change audience media consumption patterns and force rapid adaptation of the media mix and budget reallocation." An advertiser wrote that "Power outages have also accelerated the shift towards digital media consumption."

AI: agencies further along than their clients

Nearly every respondent reports using AI, but depth varies. According to the report, 35% of agencies and platforms use AI in most key processes and 28% have integrated it into all core processes - 63% combined - while 23% use it in individual teams and 15% rely on standalone tools. No advertiser has reached that level: 76% use AI in individual teams or processes and 24% use standalone tools.

The tasks differ accordingly. Agencies and platforms use AI most for analytics (90%), data processing (85%) and design or image generation (80%), with campaign optimisation at 63% and media planning at 53%. Advertisers use it most for design and image generation (88%), content creation (84%) and data processing (80%), but only 12% use AI for campaign optimisation and 8% for media planning.

Productivity gains are widely reported, cost savings less so:

  • Productivity: 90% of agencies and platforms report higher productivity from AI over the past 12 months, 25% significantly. Among advertisers, 68% report gains, 4% significant, and 20% say it is too early to assess.
  • Costs: 61% of agencies and platforms say AI has cut the cost of specific processes, 23% significantly, while 28% say it is too early to tell. Among advertisers, 60% report savings, 8% significant.
  • Jobs: 53% of agencies and platforms expect employment in certain advertising specialisations to decline over the next two to three years, 25% expect little change, 18% expect demand for new specialists and 5% expect the workforce to shrink significantly. The report shows identical figures for advertisers, a duplication explained below.

AI also tops the list of changes respondents expect to outlast the war: 78% of agencies and platforms and 64% of advertisers expect increased use of AI to persist.

An agency respondent warned of a different risk: "Another risk is the devaluation of content as a result of AI and lower-cost freelance services. The danger is not that AI will take away jobs, but that the market will begin competing solely on speed and price." An advertiser was blunter: "Artificial intelligence could also become a major threat."

The adoption levels resemble those seen elsewhere in the region. PPC Land's June report on Ukraine's market cited a Factum Group survey for the All-Ukrainian Advertising Coalition in which 87% of companies had integrated AI tools into marketing by 2025, and IAB Polska's figures put AI use among Polish marketers at 88%.

Staff: stress, air raid alerts and vacancies

Headcounts have grown since the invasion. Half of agencies and platforms (50%) employ more people than in March 2022, a quarter by more than 25%, while 33% are flat and 18% smaller. Among advertisers, 48% have grown, 32% are flat and 20% have cut staff. Since June 2026, headcount has been virtually unchanged at 73% of agencies and platforms and 80% of advertisers, with 15% and 16% respectively cutting staff.

Hiring is hardest for the skills that run digital campaigns. Agencies and platforms report the greatest difficulty finding performance specialists (48%) and media specialists (43%), followed by complex digital specialists and digital strategists (35%), data and analytics specialists (33%) and AI and automation specialists (33%). Advertisers struggle most with complex digital specialists and SMM or influencer marketing specialists (20% each), and 24% chose "Other", including drivers and loaders.

One agency put a number on the problem: "we have been unable to fill an SMM Manager position for around six months, while the relocation of content production staff creates operational risks, as most of our shoots take place in Kyiv."

Psychological stress is the dominant drag on productivity, named by 93% of agencies and platforms and 80% of advertisers. Air raid alerts follow (70% and 76%), then the destruction of facilities, warehouses and logistics hubs (38% and 36%), mobilisation (38% and 32%) and power outages (33% and 28%). Attacks on transport operators such as Ukrzaliznytsia are cited by 8% of agencies and platforms and 16% of advertisers.

Most staff remain in place: at 90% of agencies and platforms and 96% of advertisers, no more than a quarter of employees work from abroad. Relocation to safer regions inside Ukraine is rare. Among agencies and platforms, 73% have no plans and 20% call it irrelevant or not feasible; among advertisers, 48% have no plans, 16% are considering a move and 4% have one under way.

Outlook: three months worse, six months better

Near-term expectations are negative in both groups. According to the report, 58% of agencies and platforms expect their business prospects in Ukraine to deteriorate over the next three months and 8% expect improvement; among advertisers, 52% expect deterioration and 12% improvement, with 24% unable to assess. Over six months the mood lifts slightly: 40% of agencies and platforms expect deterioration and 23% improvement, while 40% of advertisers expect slight deterioration and 12% improvement.

Expectations for commercial activity follow the same curve. Over three months, 36% of agencies and platforms expect a decline and 26% growth; over six months, 43% expect growth and 28% a decline. Among advertisers, the six-month split is 36% growth against 12% decline. The report's heading for this finding reads: "Short-term outlook is more pessimistic than the medium-term outlook."

Beyond AI, agencies and platforms expect remote or hybrid work (65%), a greater need for budget flexibility (58%) and a bigger role for digital (50%) to persist after the war; advertisers put changes in consumer behaviour (60%) and budget flexibility (56%) next to AI. Support for Ukrainian media and businesses scores 20% among agencies and platforms and 4% among advertisers.

What respondents wrote

The open-ended answers carry arguments the percentages cannot. The longest concerns where money goes. "The second major opportunity is to provide maximum support for the local economy," one agency respondent wrote. "This also applies to advertising budgets: all else being equal, greater support should be given to Ukrainian market players rather than automatically directing budgets to global platforms or international organizations. Today, this is no longer just a matter of industry development, but also of its resilience and survival."

Another framed the same point as a threat. "People are leaving the country, businesses are scaling back their activities, and selling goods and services is becoming more difficult," the respondent wrote, adding that "both the purchasing power of the audience and the number of local advertisers are declining, potentially leading to a significant contraction of the market over time." Tender pricing appears twice: "Elimination of price dumping in tenders" is listed both as an opportunity and, as "Eliminating price dumping in tenders", among the threats.

Several answers describe a change in how campaigns are made. One agency respondent wrote that "the Ukrainian language, culture, and local context have become much more important in brand communications," and that "Today, a strong agency is not simply one that executes an approved plan well, but one that can reshape it in a day without losing the brand's meaning, quality, or voice."

Advertisers pointed to measurement and commerce. One named "retail media" as the main opportunity, a channel built on the retail media network, in which a retailer sells advertising on its own shop and shopper data. Another wanted "a data-driven approach to measuring the impact of media on offline sales," calling it "a key differentiating factor" if implemented. A third listed "Aligning media metrics with real business outcomes (sell-out), developing native influencer marketing, and integrating AI solutions."

Inconsistencies in the report

Several figures in the report do not reconcile.

The advertiser chart on how AI will affect employment repeats the agency figures exactly: 5%, 53%, 25% and 18%. None of those four values can be produced by a group of 25 respondents, where each company counts for 4 percentage points. The report's conclusion that "More than half of respondents in both segments expect employment to decline in certain advertising industry specializations" rests on that chart. The advertiser answers on talent as a threat also reproduce three agency answers word for word.

Fieldwork is given as October to November 2026, and IAB Europe published the report on November 5. One agency answer, however, begins: "It is difficult to say at this point, in September."

The commentary on agency size says "45% of companies have up to 25 employees", while the chart beside it shows 8% with one to ten staff and 23% with 11 to 25, which add up to 31%. The advertiser AI section states that "All surveyed companies already use AI", while the question on AI tasks shows 4% answering "We do not use AI".

Follow-up questions on infrastructure damage do not cover the full groups. Advertiser answers to those questions add up to about 80% of the 25 companies, and agency answers to about 89% of the 40, while percentages are still shown against the full group. The report does not state the base for those questions.

Why this matters for the marketing community

Ukraine's digital advertising market has grown quickly from a sharply reduced base. In 2022, digital ad spending fell 36%; by 2025 it reached UAH 54.84bn after 22% growth, and IAB Ukraine's June overview forecast UAH 64.51bn for 2026, an 18% increase. IAB Europe's AdEx Benchmark put Ukraine's 2025 digital growth at 22.0% in nominal terms but 8.2% after adjusting for inflation, in a European market that grew 10.5% to €131.1bn. The barometer does not measure market size, so it can neither confirm nor revise that forecast. What it shows is the second-half pressure the forecast must absorb: a third quarter in which almost half of agencies and platforms saw budgets shrink, and price rises of 10-25% at a majority of advertisers in a high-inflation economy.

For search marketers, the data is unusually clear. When budgets are cut in a market under attack, search is the channel least likely to be touched: nearly four in five agencies and platforms call it a must-have, none cut it first, and it is almost never reduced when infrastructure losses force cuts. Brand activity, TV, outdoor and influencer work carry the reductions instead.

The war also shaped platform policy. Google paused ads to users in Russia from March 3, 2022, deactivated Russia-based AdSense accounts in August 2024 and in October 2026 still blocked Russia-based advertisers, while opening ads to licensed gambling operators in Ukraine from July 14, 2025.

The AI findings can be read against surveys elsewhere. In Ukraine, productivity gains are reported more often than cost savings, and agencies are ahead of their clients in integrating AI into core work. Three agency executives in Asia-Pacific put the share of agency work handled by AI agents at 10-20% in August, and a Basis survey published in October found that 47.8% of marketing organisations had replaced human tasks with AI in the past 12 months. The Ukrainian respondents add a constraint those surveys lack. The hardest roles to fill are performance and media specialists, and one agency respondent wrote that "It is becoming increasingly difficult to find and retain skilled professionals due to emigration, mobilization, the security situation, and exhaustion."

International advertisers with Ukrainian budgets face a direct appeal in the open answers: keep money with locally incorporated media, agencies and technology companies. Whether that changes allocation is not something the survey measures. The expectation that budget flexibility, short planning cycles and performance measurement will outlast the war suggests many respondents treat the working habits formed since February 2022 as lasting.

Timeline

Summary

Who: IAB Ukraine, the Ukrainian association for digital advertising, led by chief executive Anastasiya Baydachenko, surveyed 65 named companies: 40 advertising agencies and platforms, including Publicis Groupe Ukraine, WPP Media, RAZOM Group, MEGOGO and MGID, and 25 advertisers, including Mondelēz, Unilever Ukraine, Toyota Ukraine and Vodafone Ukraine. IAB Europe published the report.

What: Wartime Barometer 2.0, a study of how Russia's war affects Ukrainian businesses and advertising in 2026. Its key findings: 76% of agencies and platforms say infrastructure damage led to budget cuts, against 24% of advertisers; 48% of agencies and platforms saw third-quarter budgets fall while 64% of advertisers raised them; search is a must-have for 78% of agencies and platforms and is almost never cut; profitability fell at 38% of agencies and platforms and 48% of advertisers despite higher activity than in March 2022; and AI is reported to raise productivity at 90% of agencies and platforms and 68% of advertisers. Several advertiser figures in the report do not reconcile.

When: Fieldwork ran in October and November 2026, according to the report, and IAB Europe published it on November 5, 2026. Budget questions compare January to June and July to September 2026 with the same periods of 2025.

Where: Ukraine, with the report distributed through IAB Europe's knowledge hub.

Why: Strikes on warehouses, production sites, logistics and energy infrastructure continue to remove products from sale and force campaigns to be cut, delayed or redirected. The survey shows a market that has recovered in volume but not in profit, where planning cycles have shortened, brand and traditional media absorb cuts, search and social media are protected, and most respondents expect the next three months to be worse than the next six.