Topline
Ukraine has lost up to $600 billion as a result of Russia’s invasion, with $92 billion of damage to its infrastructure, according to a study released by the Kyiv School of Economics on Tuesday, adding to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s initial estimates that Ukraine has lost more than half a trillion dollars since war broke out.
A man stands in a destroyed street in the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv.
Key Facts
Overall economic losses from the war range from $564 billion to $600 billion since the war started in February, researchers estimated.
Researchers estimated the figure by compiling direct infrastructure costs using information submitted by citizens, government agencies and local authorities, as well as indirect costs such as GDP decline, social support costs and investment losses.
At least 195 factories and businesses, 230 healthcare institutions and 940 educational facilities have been damaged, destroyed or seized, according to the report, which is a part of the school’s “Russia will pay” project that aims to document the costs of Russia’s invasion.
Residential buildings and roads accounted for the largest sum of infrastructure damages at almost $60 billion in losses, with 23,800 kilometers (14,788 miles) of roads damaged or destroyed.
Damages to Ukrainian business assets amounted to almost $10 billion, the study found.
Big Number
Almost $4.5 billion. That’s how much damage to civilian infrastructure Ukraine suffered last week alone, researchers found.
Key Background
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month estimated Ukraine had lost about $550 billion from the war, adding that the country would require $7 billion in monthly financial support to recover from what he described as “completely destroyed normal economic relations” and other damages. He upped that number to $600 billion in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday after the Kyiv School of Economics study was published. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has offered similar estimates. The U.S., Canada and the European Union to date have provided several billion dollars in an effort to aid Ukraine. Russia has taken aim at Ukrainian infrastructure during its invasion, targeting railways and power stations in recent weeks. Russian forces last week bombed five train stations in central and western Ukraine, railways that have played a critical role in evacuating civilians from areas of fighting and destruction. More than 540 kindergartens, 95 religious institutions and 140 cultural buildings also have been damaged, destroyed or seized since the war began, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
Further Reading
Ukraine needs up to $7 billion in support per month, Zelensky says. (New York Times)
Ukrainian researchers say economy has lost up to $600 billion from war (Washington Post)
Russia Reportedly Strikes Five Train Stations In Western And Central Ukraine (Forbes)
