General scale of destruction
Direct damage to the infrastructure, housing and business of Ukraine as a result of a full-scale war has reached $197.5 billion. This assessment was prepared by the KSE Institute together with the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
Compared to the November 2024 estimate, the amount increased by approx 16%. At the same time, the actual scale of the destruction may be even greater, since Ukrainian specialists do not have full access to the temporarily occupied territories.
It is also important that the current assessment does not take into account losses incurred after February 2026. That is, the final amount of losses continues to grow as new attacks and destruction occur.
The housing fund is the largest item of losses
The war hit residential real estate the most. Direct losses of this sector are estimated at $65.9 billion.
During the full-scale war, almost everything was damaged or destroyed 416 thousand residential buildings. Among them, about 352,000 are private houses, and more than 63,000 are apartment buildings.
The scale of destruction means not only the need to restore the buildings themselves. The state and communities must also ensure the restoration of communications, infrastructure around housing and the creation of conditions for the return of people to affected settlements.
Transport lost more than $42 billion
The second largest area of damage was the transport infrastructure. Its losses are estimated at approximately $42 billion.
As a result of the hostilities, close to 29 thousand km of highways.
The losses of key transport sectors are assessed separately:
"Ukrzaliznytsia" is close $5 billion;
sea ports — $1.2 billion;
the aviation industry is close $2 billion.
The restoration of transport is critical not only for the movement of the population, but also for the operation of industry, exports and logistics.
Industry and business lost $18.4 billion
Direct losses of industry and business are estimated at $18.4 billion.
Damaged assets approx 12.6 thousand enterprises. The most affected was the metallurgical industry, a significant part of whose production capacity was concentrated in the regions that became the epicenters of hostilities.
For the economy, this means not only the loss of property. The destruction of enterprises leads to a reduction in production, loss of jobs, a decrease in exports and tax revenues.
Energy shows the fastest growing losses
Damages to the energy sector are estimated at $18.3 billion.
It was energy that showed the highest rate of increase in losses — approximately 25% compared to the previous assessment.
The reason was regular Russian attacks on electricity generation, transmission and distribution facilities. Shocks to the energy system have a multiplier effect, as they affect not only energy companies, but also industry, transportation, business, and the residential sector.
Education and the agricultural sector also suffered significant losses
The damage to the educational infrastructure is estimated at $12.2 billion.
Damaged close 4.8 thousand educational institutions in 22 regions of Ukraine. These are schools, kindergartens, professional and other educational institutions.
Yet $12.1 billion constitute losses of the agro-industrial complex. More than $7.1 billion of this amount is due to the loss and damage of agricultural machinery.
For the agricultural sector, the consequences of the war go far beyond the direct destruction of property — they also affect the production, logistics, and export of Ukrainian products.
The public sector — another $22.8 billion
Cumulative direct losses of the public sector are estimated at $22.8 billion.
This category includes:
Thus, the war continues to create a significant burden on the state and local budgets, which simultaneously have to finance defense, social payments and the restoration of damaged objects.
Environmental damage continues to grow
Apart from direct damage to the infrastructure, they accumulate environmental damage.
According to the State Environmental Inspection, only in the period from July 31 to August 7, 2026, the assessment of environmental damage from Russian aggression increased by UAH 109.9 billion.
The estimate of losses in the period from July 17 to 24 increased by another UAH 50.3 billion.
These indicators cover the effects of land and water pollution, destruction of natural resources, and other environmental losses that may have long-term consequences even after hostilities have ended.
Losses are fixed for future compensations
Ukraine continues to document the consequences of Russian aggression, in particular through international register of losses.
Through Diya, Ukrainians and businesses can submit claims for damage in the appropriate categories. The purpose of such a mechanism is to record the claims of victims and create a basis for a future international compensation mechanism.
At the same time, the current assessment of KSE Institute is just an assessment direct losses. It does not fully reflect the future costs of reconstruction, economic losses from underproduction and other indirect consequences of war.
What does this mean for Ukraine?
Almost $198 billion in direct losses is a scale that significantly exceeds the ability of the Ukrainian budget to independently finance reconstruction.
The biggest challenge is that the destruction continues while some of the previous damage has not yet been repaired. Therefore, the final cost of rebuilding Ukraine will be much higher than the current estimate of direct damages.
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