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A Ukrainian serviceman carries an NLAW anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Joint Forces Operation, in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine (AP photo) Russia’s invasion has seen massive destruction of Ukraine’s cities and taken thousands of lives of soldiers and civilians on both sides, even as scores of Ukrainian fled their homes to safety.
The United Nations estimated that a million refugees have evacuated from Ukraine to neighbouring countries like Poland and Hungary by the seventh day of Russia’s assault. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, on Twitter, wrote, “For many millions more, inside Ukraine, it’s time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided”.
According to news agency AP, the UN’s tally accounts for over 2 per cent of Ukraine’s population, which was pegged at 44 million by the World Bank at the end of 2020. The international organisation also warned that over 4 million more may leave the country, its projections showed.
Casualties
The UN human rights body had confirmed 536 civilian casualties till Tuesday, which includes 136 civilians killed, of whom 13 are children. It estimates that of the 400 who have been injured, 26 are children.
However, Ukraine’s emergency service Wednesday pegged the number of civilian deaths at 2,000, according to news agency Reuters.
Over 7,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, military adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Oleksiy Arestovich, said on Wednesday. Arestovich added that hundreds have been captured.
Russia, meanwhile, has released far lower figures, acknowledging its casualties for the first time since the war started. Its defence ministry on Wednesday confirmed that 498 Russian soldiers had died in Ukraine and another 1,597 were wounded.
As many as 2,870 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and about 3,700 wounded, Reuters reported the Russian ministry as saying. Kyiv is yet to disclose its military casualties.
Indian nationals
According to an affidavit submitted by the Centre in the Kerala High Court Wednesday, of the 20,000 Indian nationals, which were in Ukraine at the beginning of the invasion, 60 per cent have crossed the border from the war-hit country. Of these, 30 per cent have made their way back to India.
The government has said an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 Indian nationals remain in Ukraine, mainly in the east of the country, for which efforts are being made by the government to bring them back “as soon as possible”
Economy
Amid the growing number of sanctions, the Rouble touched a record low of 110 against the dollar on Wednesday in Moscow, marking a 30 per cent drop since the start of the year. On the EBS platform, the Rouble ended the day at 100 against the dollar, and at 97.6 elsewhere.
Russia has been denied access to its $630 billion foreign reserves with the West’s sanctions on its Central Bank.
According to Bloomberg’s data, the price of Brent crude oil was $117 per barrel as of 11.30 pm IST on Thursday. This is the highest since 2013. The rise in commodity prices comes as Russia is one of the largest exporters of oil and gas.
Military
As reported by The Indian Express earlier, Russia’s military expenditure in 2020 was at $ 61.7 billion, over ten times that of Ukraine ($5.9 billion). A head to head comparison of both the militaries can be seen below.
A comparison of Russia’s militaries with Ukraine’s — With agencies’ inputs
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