War causes over $150bn damage to Ukraine's infrastructure

KIEV: Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine has caused $151.2 billion in direct damage to the latter country's infrastructure as of September this year since the invasion first started in February 2022, a new study revealed.

According to the study by the Kiev School of Economics, the damages have increased by over $700 million as compared to June 2023, from $150.5 billion to $151.2 billion

It revealed that the housing sector was the worst hit, amounting to $55.9 billion.

In total, 167,200 housing units have been destroyed or damaged as a result of the hostilities, comprising 147,800 private houses, 19.1 thousand apartment buildings, and an additional 0.35 thousand dormitories.

The regions Donetsk, Kiev, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and Zaporizhia have been the most severely affected

In second and third place in terms of damages are the infrastructure and industry sectors, with $36.6 billion and $11.4 billion in damages, respectively.

Since the beginning of the war, 18 airports, civil airfields, 344 bridges and overpasses, and over 25,000 kilometers of state and local highways and communal roads have been damaged.

Damages in the industry sector encompass at least 426 large and medium-sized private enterprises and state-owned companies that have been damaged or destroyed due to the war.

Meanwhile, the education sector has also been significantly affected.

As of the beginning of September , the war has caused $10.1 billion in damages, marking an increase of over $400 million compared to June.

The total number of damaged and destroyed educational facilities has exceeded 3.,500, including more than 1,700 secondary education institutions, over a 1,000 preschools, and 586 higher education institutions.

According to regional military administrations, the highest number of destroyed and damaged educational institutions were recorded in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, and Kiev regions.

Additionally, direct losses in the healthcare sector also continue to escalate, estimated at $2.9 billion as of September 1.

In total, the war has led to the destruction or damage of 1,223 medical facilities, including 384 hospitals and 352 dispensaries.