The shocking figures after a year of war

The suffering of the Ukrainians after a year of war is immense. Millions of people are affected, some difficult fates can hardly be put into words. Figures, however, clearly show how badly the war has hit Ukrainians after a year – and also what successes the attacked country has had against the Russians.

The published figures are partly based on estimates.

In addition to human suffering, the Russian offensive war also entails enormous costs. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund currently estimate the cost of rebuilding buildings and infrastructure in Ukraine at the equivalent of two trillion Swiss francs. This roughly corresponds to the net financial wealth of all Swiss private households put together.

Western countries have so far supported Ukraine with the equivalent of about 113 billion Swiss francs. According to calculations by the Institute for the World Economy in Kiel (D), the EU countries will have provided almost CHF 52 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid by the end of 2022. The US pledges amount to nearly 48 billion Swiss francs. 13.5 billion Swiss francs come from other countries. Switzerland provided CHF 300 million for humanitarian aid.

According to the UN, eight million Ukrainians have fled abroad and 5.3 million people have sought protection in other parts of Ukraine. In addition to these 13.3 million refugees, 2.8 million have crossed the border into Russia, although it is not clear how many actually fled and how many were forcibly resettled. Switzerland has taken in nearly 79,000 Ukrainian refugees. This ranks it 15th out of 41 European countries in terms of admission rate compared to population.

Ukrainian soil is now contaminated with millions of projectiles and bombs. On the Russian side alone, 20,000 artillery shells are fired every day, on the Ukrainian side there are 4,000 to 7,000. Calculated over a year, that amounts to about ten million deadly shells.

No number is so heavily used for propaganda as the number of victims. Ukraine speaks of 140,000 dead Russians, the Russians of 157,000 dead Ukrainians. The Norwegian army chief Eirik Kristoffersen (53) should have delivered a more or less reliable and neutral balance: he speaks of 180,000 killed and wounded on the side of the Russian army and 100,000 killed and wounded Ukrainian army members. 30,000 civilians were killed.

By the end of 2022, about 13,000 children and young people between the ages of four months and 17 years had been abducted, according to the Ukrainian government. Neutral observers confirm the kidnapping. The abducted children are sent to Russian re-education camps, where they are subjected to “Russian-oriented academic, cultural, patriotic and/or military education,” according to a report from Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab.

Russia has lost more than half of its 3,500 main battle tanks deployed so far. The documentation site Oryx records that 1020 were destroyed, 547 captured by Ukrainian forces, 80 damaged and 86 abandoned. In total, Russia has about 12,400 main battle tanks, many of which are no longer operational. Due to the sanctions, there is a lack of high-tech material for repairs or new construction. The Ukrainians lost 461 tanks – less than they captured from the enemy.

Oryx documents that Ukraine has so far destroyed 218 Russian aircraft and captured 84. Although that is only about 3 percent of the total inventory of the Russian military, it is the most modern aircraft. Moscow has lost 15 percent of its best Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jets and about a quarter of its Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopters. On the other hand, there are 142 Ukrainian aircraft destroyed or captured.

The Ukrainians inflicted enormous damage on the Russian fleet. So far, the Russians have lost 18 ships, including the missile cruiser Moskva, which served as a flagship in the Black Sea. To the delight of visitors, the Moskva can be sunk in a simulation at the Ukrainian Science Museum in Lviv. The small Ukrainian navy single-handedly sank its own flagship to keep it out of Russian hands.

While the Western world stands with Ukraine, Russia has lost a lot of sympathy. Only four countries officially support the invasion: Belarus, from which Russian troops attack Ukraine; Iran, which supplies the Russians with cheap but efficient drones; Syria, whose government supports Moscow in the civil war; and Venezuela, whose far-left President Nicolás Maduro (60) had supported Putin.

Source: Blick