Counting the cost of the war in Ukraine - a year on from Russia's invasion

A Ukrainian soldier photographs mass graves on the outskirts of Izium, after it was recaptured from Russian forces last year. Credit: AP

Friday, February 24 marks a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, visiting death and destruction on millions.

In the 365 days since the war began, Ukrainians have raised a steadfast resistance against Vladimir Putin's forces.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has led the country through Russian assaults, rolling power cuts during a bitterly cold winter, and through his travels abroad to appeal to the international community for support.

On the one-year anniversary of the conflict, ITV News counts the cost of Russia's Ukraine invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens to the national anthem during his visit to Kherson. Credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office

Ukraine civilian death tollAn estimated 7,199 Ukrainian civilians have been killed during the conflict, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The figure includes hundreds of children.

Since the conflict began, 2,888 men, 1,941 women, 226 boys , and 180 girls, as well as 32 children and 1,932 adults whose sex is not yet known, are among the civilians killed.

The UN believes civilian casualties are far higher than is currently known, citing the difficulty in getting information from locations where intense hostilities have delayed reporting.

Areas where casualties are feared to be significantly higher than recorded include Mariupol in the Donetsk region, Izium in Kharkiv, Lysychansk, Popasna, and Sievierodonetsk, in the Luhansk region.

The port city of Mariupol has been one of the most shattered in the war. Credit: AP

Ukraine soldiers' death toll

As many as 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in battle since Russia invaded the country nine months ago, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Mr Zelenskyy, in December.

This number is likely to have risen after fierce fighting on Ukraine's eastern front this winter.

A funeral for three soldiers in Lviv, Ukraine Credit: AP

Russian death toll

US military leaders put the Russian losses at 100,000 in the last official estimate of casualties.

Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in November there had been "well over" 100,000 Russian casualties and similar military losses had "probably" been felt by Kyiv.

At a news conference in Germany in January, he acknowledged that toll was now likely far higher.

Earlier this month, senior US officials told the New York Times the Russian forces' number of killed and wounded is now closer to 200,000.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence has only officially admitted to around 6,000 deaths. 

Captured Russian tanks lining a street in Kyiv are a symbol of Ukraine's resistance. Credit: AP

Refugees

Millions have been displaced by the war. Germany alone has said 1.1 million people arrived from Ukraine in 2022.

According to the UNHCR, there are 8,071,673 Ukraine refugees across Europe.

A further 6.5 million Ukrainians are internally displaced,

The UK has taken in 161,400 people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainians crossing a railway line after passing through a border point into Poland at Kroscienko in March Credit: Victoria Jones/PA

British nationals killed in Ukraine

Eight Britons have been killed in Ukraine.

They include Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw, described as foreign volunteers by Ukrainian forces. Their bodies were recovered in eastern Ukraine following a prisoner swap earlier this month.

Scott Sibley, from Lincolnshire, was the first Briton to die in the conflict. He was killed during a shelling attack last April.

British nationals Chris Parry (right) and Andrew Bagshaw died in Ukraine. Credit: Supplied

Former British soldier Jordan Gatley died covering his squad's retreat while in battle in eastern Ukraine last June

British aid worker Paul Urey, from Warrington, died in detention in July after he was captured by Russian-backed separatists.

Volunteer medic Craig Mackintosh, from Norfolk was killed in August.

Simon Lingard, from Lancashire, was said to have died fighting alongside Ukrainian forces when his trench was hit by a Russian shell in November.

The identity of the eighth British national to die in Ukraine was confirmed to be Glasgow-born Jonathan Shenkin, who was killed while working as a paramedic.

The UK government continues to warn against any travel to Ukraine.

Emergency workers carry bodies to a refrigerator truck after their exhumation in the retaken area of Izium, Ukraine. Credit: AP

Reclaimed territory

Ukraine has reclaimed 54% of the land captured by Russia since the beginning of the war, according to a New York Times analysis of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War.

Ukrainian forces have liberated almost 18,000 square kilometres of territory since the Russian military captured of Severodonetsk in July 2022. the institute said.

Military aid from abroad

In the year since the Russians invaded, the US has provided more than $27 billion in military help to Ukraine.

It is estimated other allies have stumped up more than $19 billion worth, with over $1 billion each from Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland.

Britain is sending 14 Challenger tanks and hundreds more missiles.

Mr Zelenskyy visited Ukrainian troops being trained to command Challenger 2 tanks in Dorset Credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/PA

UK sanctions

The UK has sanctioned more than 1,200 people and more than 120 businesses since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Russian military kit losses

Dutch open-source group Oryx reported that Russian forces have lost 1,012 destroyed tanks in Ukraine with an additional 546 tanks captured by Ukrainian forces. 

Oryx reported that these combined losses represent roughly half the tanks that Russian forces committed to Ukraine at the start of the invasion.

In an update last December, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Russia has lost 4,500 armoured vehicles, 63 fixed-wing aircraft, 70 helicopters, 150 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 12 naval vessels, and over 600 artillery systems.

A Russian tank outside Mariupol with a large Z painted on the side. Credit: ITV News

Prisoners of War released

Since the start of the conflict last February, Ukraine had secured the release of 1,762 men and women from Russian captivity, Mr Zelenskyy has said.

Ukrainian soldiers trained by the British Army

Military trainers who have turned 10,000 Ukrainian civilians into soldiers in just weeks will put another 20,000 through their paces in the UK this year.

Cases of sexual violence

The UN reported last December that between February 24 and October 21, it had documented 86 cases of sexual violence, most by Russian forces, including rape, gang rape, forced nudity, and forced public stripping in various regions of Ukraine and in a facility in Russia.

Vladimir Putin continues to be accused of war crimes over his invasion of Ukraine Credit: Mstyslav Chernov/AP

Attacks on healthcare facilities

The World Health Organization had confirmed more than 700 attacks on healthcare facilities, personnel, and vehicles, which killed at least 200 people, up to December last year, according to a Human Rights Watch report.


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