3 months after its outbreak, what did Russia's war on Ukraine leave behind?

Kiev

- Many developments have occurred in Russia's continuous war on Ukraine over the past 3 months, and many repercussions have had on the Ukrainians in all fields.

On the ground, after the withdrawal of Russian forces from areas in the capital, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy in the north at the end of March, this May witnessed a similar partial withdrawal from the Kharkiv region in the east.

After the Russian forces took control of the city of Mariupol, they are seeking to advance further into the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of the Donbass region, where direct battles with Ukrainian forces are concentrated, while the heat of the rest of the country is limited to long-range missile attacks.

Ukraine is concealing the size of its forces’ losses, and has not reported them since mid-April, when President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted at the loss of about 2,500 to 3,000 soldiers, but the National Guard alone, affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior, revealed a few days ago that it had lost 501 of its members. In addition, 1,697 people were wounded in his ranks as a result of the war.

On the other hand, Ukraine is talking - to this day - about the loss of the Russian army about 29,350 soldiers, 1,302 tanks, 3,194 armored vehicles, 606 artillery vehicles, 93 air defense systems, 201 missile launchers, 2,213 trucks, 205 combat aircraft, 170 helicopters, and 13 ships. , most notably the cruiser "Moskva".

Civilian victims

Among civilians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights indicates - as of May 23 - that 3,930 people have been killed, and 4,532 others have been injured, noting that "the real numbers may be much higher."

The number of civilians killed and wounded, according to the local authorities, is estimated at tens of thousands, not less, especially in the eastern parts of the country, such as the city of Mariupol and the rest of the Donbass region.

According to the Ukrainian Emergency Service, 234 children have been killed and 433 others wounded, since the beginning of the Russian war on the country.

In a related context, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova says that about 13,000 possible war crimes committed by Russian forces in the country are being investigated.

In light of the continuation of the war, waves of displacement continued, as the number of those registered as internally displaced reached 8 million, while more than 6.2 million Ukrainians sought refuge in other countries, mostly European, and 90% of them are women and children, given that Ukraine prevents the departure of men between the ages of 18 and 60 years.

The Ukrainian Border Guard Service indicates that about 700,000 citizens have taken refuge in Russia.

In a related context, Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Ludmila Denisova notes that Russia has forcibly displaced 1.4 million Ukrainians to its territory, including 240,000 children, especially in the Donbass regions.

Based on these figures, the war forced about 40% of Ukraine's population to leave their homes.

But the Russian withdrawal from the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions prompted - according to the official "Ukr Info" news agency - the return of about 2.7 million displaced Ukrainians or refugees to their cities and homes.

The pace of the "deliberate" return - if you will - comes in light of the continued dangers of bombing, and the warnings of the local authorities in those areas against their urgency.

Infrastructure destruction

According to the Kyiv Institute of Economics, the direct losses to the Ukrainian infrastructure as a result of the war amounted to 97.4 billion dollars, of which 3.1 billion were recorded just last week.

However, these losses inflicted damages to the country's economy estimated at 564-600 billion dollars, which is the same figure set by the institute in mid-April.

Infrastructure losses include damage to about 38.6 thousand square kilometers of homes and apartments, 23.8 kilometers of paved roads, 295 bridges and crossings, 4.7 thousand hectares of agricultural land, 12 civilian airports, 12 military airports, and two ports.

The losses also include 574 healthcare institutions, 1,067 educational institutions, including 591 kindergartens, 219 buildings for factories and companies, 92 administrative buildings, 179 cultural buildings, 108 religious buildings, 169 warehouses, 28 fuel storage stations, and 19 commercial centers.

downturn in the economy

The war is still having repercussions on Ukraine's economy, which the National Bank expects to decline by 30% this year, according to the most optimistic forecasts.

According to the calculations of the Ministry of Economy, the loss of GDP will amount to about 112 billion dollars by the end of the year, a decrease of about 20%, and it will reach 1.2 trillion dollars in 2030.

According to the head of the National Bank Kirilu Shevchenko, the Ukrainian ports are besieged and the war continues, which has a negative impact on production and export operations, including a decline of about 30% in the field of agricultural production alone.

However, he pointed out that the return of relative calm to some areas reduced the percentage of idle commercial companies from 32% at the beginning of last March to 17%.