The Supreme Court of Ukraine confirmed that force majeure may exempt a debtor from liability for delayed contractual performance without extinguishing the underlying debt. In a dispute involving ground handling services, the Court accepted that Russia’s invasion, martial law, closure of Ukrainian airspace and suspension of civil aviation prevented timely performance, while the obligation to pay for services already received remained in force.

The Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the dismissal of a claim for contractual penalties where a supplier proved that mass missile attacks, disruption of critical infrastructure and emergency electricity outages made timely performance objectively impossible. The case illustrates that wartime force majeure requires a demonstrated connection between the extraordinary event and the specific contractual breach.

The Supreme Court of Ukraine held that the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s general letter on Russia’s invasion does not itself prove force majeure for a particular contract. However, an individual force-majeure certificate is not necessarily the exclusive form of evidence. The courts must examine the actual impact of wartime events, including the missile strike and partial destruction of the Retroville shopping centre, on performance of the specific lease.