Rebuilding Ukraine could cost $750B
The cost of rebuilding battered Ukraine after the war is estimated at $750 billion, but some of those funds could come from the source of the damage.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland that a global effort will be needed for restoration.
“Restoring Ukraine means restoring the principles of life, restoring the space of life, restoring everything that makes humans humans,” Zelenskyy said in a video message.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who attended the conference in Lugano in person, provided the $750 billion figure and presented a recovery plan for immediate and longterm needs.
He also said a large source of funding “should be the confiscated assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs,” which he said may currently be between $300 billion and $500 billion.
Putin declares victory in Luhansk
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in the battle for Ukraine’s Luhansk province Monday and ordered rest for his troops before pushing on in the Kremlin’s quest to take control of the entire Donbas industrial region.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported that Russian forces had taken control of Lysychansk, the last disputed major city in Luhansk.
Earlier, Ukraine’s military said it was forced to withdraw in the face of Russia’s advantage in artillery, aviation, ammunition and personnel. Continuing to hold out would lead to “fatal consequences” for its troops, the military said in a Facebook post.
Analysts: Russian arms outdated
Russia’s increasing use of outdated weaponry in a number of deadly attacks may be evidence its military lacks more precise modern weapons, military analysts say.
Russian bombers have been using 1960s-era KH-class missiles, which were primarily designed to target aircraft carriers using a nuclear warhead and are not able to accurately strike ground targets, officials say. .
“Russia continues to employ airlaunched anti-ship missiles in a secondary land-attack role, likely because of dwindling stockpiles of more accurate modern weapons,” the British defense ministry said on Twitter.
Both Russia and Ukraine have expended large amounts of weaponry in a grinding war of attrition for the Donbas region.
President Joe Biden said in June the U.S. would provide Ukraine longerrange precision rockets, but it’s not clear yet how much difference they’ll make.