The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, ordered the invasion of his neighboring country, Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, in what Moscow is trying to mask as a “special military operation” that, however, is already approaching its second anniversary with figures that exceed 10,300 civilian deaths and a destruction that would require an investment of more than 450,000 million euros and years of work.
According to United Nations data, the first waves of Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory left more than 4,200 civilians dead in just the first month of hostilities. More than half a year after the invasion, the numbers decreased significantly but still remain today at figures that exceed more than one hundred civilian deaths per month.
The vast majority of civilians have lost their lives due to the impact of missiles, although it is true that there is also a small percentage of people who have died due to the explosion of mines spread by the Russian Armed Forces as they passed through Ukrainian territory. This makes Ukraine one of the countries with the most explosives spread on its territory.
In fact, the situation in this regard is such that Ukraine’s allies have not only supplied Kiev with military capabilities or basic equipment, but have also allocated a non-negligible amount of money and material to support Ukrainian efforts to clear mines in its territory. territory.
Although at first Russian troops entered Ukraine on several fronts, with the passage of time and thanks to Ukrainian advances, the clashes between both sides seem to have been confined to the eastern end of the country, although the Russian Air Force continues putting the entire Ukrainian territory on alert.
The incessant Russian bombings have caused such a level of devastation that several international organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Commission and the World Bank itself, have estimated the price of rebuilding Ukraine over the next decade at around €452 billion.
According to the latest rapid damage and needs assessment of Ukraine (ERDN3), since the outbreak of war until December 31, around ten percent of the country’s housing stock has been partially damaged or destroyed, which that encourages the forced displacement of the population.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 1.4 million residential buildings have suffered damage, and about a third of them present a level of destruction that is considered irreparable. Thus, the number of internally displaced people rises to 3.7 million people.
Refugees and needy
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a war at the gates of Europe as has not happened for years and, as a direct consequence, has motivated hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to choose to leave their country, fleeing the war and seeking better conditions in other European countries. of life.
At first, the response from much of Europe was positive and in several countries the arrival of Ukrainian refugees was facilitated. More than six million Ukrainians headed to other European countries, while about another half million headed to other countries in the world, especially the United States and Canada.
Among the main European destinations for Ukrainian refugees, in addition to Russia, Germany stands out, with almost 1.4 million Ukrainians; Poland, with another 956,000; United Kingdom, with 250,000 refugees in its territories; and Spain, which has provided shelter to more than 192,000 people from Ukraine.
According to United Nations data, beyond the six million people who left the country, almost the remaining half of the citizens who currently reside in Ukraine, some 14.6 million people, are in need to be able to satisfy your needs.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has highlighted that nearly 8.5 million people are directly targeted by the organization by 2024, raising up to 3.1 billion dollars (a little less than 2.9 billion euros) the budget necessary for this purpose.
Of those 2.9 billion euros that OCHA considers necessary to meet its objectives, only ten percent, about 340 million dollars (more than 315 million euros), have been financed to date. With this trend, by the end of the year only 77 percent of the goal set by the UN will have been financed.
With this figure, the United Nations would see its ability to raise funds decreased compared to the previous year, when it received up to 2.7 billion dollars (about 2.5 billion euros), although this represented less than 69 percent of the goal set at the beginning of 2023. .
That year, the United States became the main donor to this fund for Ukraine, with more than $1 billion, almost 37.5 percent of the total amount. The European Union, through its humanitarian aid and civil protection department of the European Commission, financed another 328 million, about 12.1 percent of the total.
Cultural and health damage and dead journalists
Beyond the destruction of residential and government buildings and farmland, the incessant Russian attacks on Ukraine also leave a trail of devastation in cultural buildings, educational centers and healthcare facilities.
According to data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Russian Armed Forces have partially damaged or destroyed more than 340 cultural or religious spaces, including 127 places of worship and 150 historical buildings.
By territorial areas, the Donetsk region is where the majority of these types of buildings affected by the Russian attacks are concentrated, with up to 88 facilities damaged. After Donetsk is the Kharkiv region, with another 56 damaged cultural and religious spaces.
The third most affected region is Odessa, located in southern Ukraine and whose historic center was declared by the United Nations as World Heritage in Danger. This territory accumulates nearly fifty devastated heritage buildings.
On the other hand, nearly 3,800 educational institutions have been affected by the Ukrainian bombings, 365 of which have been completely destroyed, according to reports from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
Regarding healthcare facilities, the World Health Organization reported in mid-February that, to date, attacks had been verified against nearly 1,600 Ukrainian healthcare facilities since the outbreak of war.
Finally, the Russian Army’s attacks against Ukrainian territory also left 14 journalists dead, according to UNESCO. However, recently the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine raised this figure to 16 deaths.
According to the president of the aforementioned union, Sergi Tomilenko, the total balance of communication professionals killed in the context of the war amounts to almost 80, including in this figure the journalists killed on the front in the act of service for the Forces. Armed.
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