War damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure estimated at over USD 100 billion
The destruction and damaging of residential and non-residential buildings and infrastructure caused by the war in Ukraine has reached an estimated total of USD 103.9 billion, while the overall economic losses go up to USD 600 billion, according to an analysis carried out by the KSE Institute - the analytical unit of the Kyiv School of Economics.
The first sum represents an estimate of the direct damages to Ukraine’s infrastructure in the over 100 days of war since Russia’s invasion on February 24. Roughly USD 11.5 billion in damages were caused just over the last week alone.
At least 44.8 million square meters of housing, 256 enterprises, 656 medical institutions, 1,177 educational institutions, 668 kindergartens, 198 warehouses, 20 shopping centers and 28 oil depots have been damaged, destroyed or seized, according to the report by the KSE Institute. Also damaged or destroyed were 141 religious and 203 cultural buildings, most of them in the Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Donetsk regions.
Ukraine’s railways suffered damages worth USD 2.7 billion, while Ukrainian citizens lost an estimated 105,000 private cars valued at almost USD 1 billion. Russian shelling also affected 20 malls, 11 civilian airports, over 250 factories and industrial enterprises, and almost 3,000 retail locations.
Aside from direct destructions, the war also affected Ukraine’s economy through closures or disruptions in normal activity. An estimate by the Ministry of Economy and KSE puts overall economic losses due to the war between USD 564 and 600 billion.
The Institute is the analytical unit of the Kyiv School of Economics and has compiled data with the support of the Presidential Office and several ministries. Volunteers from the Ukrainian branch of Transparency International, the Center for Economic Strategy, Dragon Capital, the Anti-Corruption Headquarters, the Institute of Analysis and Advocacy, and others also provided assistance.
The dataset, to which Ukrainian citizens can provide information, is meant to be a record of the losses caused by the Russian invasion. The KSE Institute team has created the RUSSIA WILL PAY resource (https://damaged.in.ua), where every citizen can submit data on damage to buildings, businesses, roads, and other facilities.
radu@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Oleksii Synelnykov | Dreamstime.com)