Ukraine’s prime minister says rebuilding will cost $750 billion.

 Ukraine’s prime minister says rebuilding will cost $750 billion.

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Ukraine Needs $750 Billion to Rebuild, Prime Minister Says

Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s prime minister, called for the seized assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs to be used toward funding Ukraine’s recovery from the mass destruction wrought by Russia’s invasion.CreditCredit...Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Dan Bilefsky and Nick Cumming-Bruce

July 5, 2022

Updated 2:24 p.m. ET

For Ukrainians living through war, the cost of the conflict is hard to measure: Thousands of people killed, countless homes and buildings destroyed by missiles, families displaced, livelihoods lost. But international leaders are gathering in the lakeside Swiss town of Lugano for a second day on Tuesday in an attempt to do just that.

The leaders, joined by aid organizations and financial institutions, are mapping out the monumental effort it will take to rebuild the battle-damaged areas Ukraine still holds when the war ends.

Nearly five months of war has damaged crucial infrastructure — factories, airports, railway stations — and obliterated residential buildings, schools, hospitals, churches and shopping malls. And the bombs continue to fall. Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, told those assembled in Lugano on Monday that the cost of rebuilding was estimated at $750 billion.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had warned the conference that the task of rebuilding the country would be “colossal.” Russia’s indiscriminate shelling was an attempt not just to destroy Ukraine but also the vision of democracy and Europe, he said by video link, making the war “not just ours, not just a local one.”

“This is Russia’s attack on everything that is of value to you and me,” he added. “Therefore, the reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project, not a project of one nation, but a joint task of the entire democratic world.”

Better Understand the Russia-Ukraine War

History and Background: Here’s what to know about Russia and Ukraine’s relationship and the causes of the conflict.

How the Battle Is Unfolding: Russian and Ukrainian forces are using a bevy of weapons as a deadly war of attrition grinds on in eastern Ukraine.

Russia’s Brutal Strategy: An analysis of more than 1,000 photos found that Russia has used hundreds of weapons in Ukraine that are widely banned by international treaties.

Outside Pressures: Governments, sports organizations and businesses are taking steps to punish Russia. Here are some of the sanctions adopted so far and a list of companies that have pulled out of the country.

Stay Updated: To receive the latest updates on the war in your inbox, sign up here. The Times has also launched a Telegram channel to make its journalism more accessible around the world.

He reiterated that message in his nightly address to Ukraine.

Whatever the cost, Ukraine’s international allies will face an uphill struggle to help reconstruct a former Soviet state with a culture of endemic corruption and fragile democratic institutions. Transparency International, an anticorruption watchdog, ranked Ukraine 117th out of 180 countries on its corruption index in 2020.

At the same time, while more pledges of aid would be welcomed by Ukraine, many Western countries and their publics are suffering from war fatigue amid spiraling inflation and food and gas prices. And it remains to be seen how far countries will be willing to go to help Ukraine when the war finally ends.

Earlier this year, donor pledges for Afghanistan and Yemen fell far short of targets set by the United Nations. In Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s policies have complicated aid efforts, the U.N. said that $4.4 billion was needed this year in humanitarian aid alone, but $2.4 billion was raised. Of the $4.3 billion sought for Yemen, $1.3 billion was contributed.

Mr. Zelensky sent Mr. Shmyhal and other members of his cabinet to Lugano, a picturesque lakeside town, for two days of talks with a cast of international heavy hitters. Also in attendance were the president of the European Union’s executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen, who called the rebuilding of Ukraine “a generational task,” and the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, along with senior officials from Europe, North America and Asia and representatives of major international financial institutions.

The meeting was planned long before the war as one in a series of conferences focused on tackling corruption in Ukraine. But after Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24, the focus shifted to recovery.

The Lugano meeting is still looking at issues of governance and corruption, which have taken on a renewed prominence in recent weeks: When the European Union accepted Ukraine last month as a candidate for full membership, it said that progress on corruption and the rule of law would be required to advance the application.

But even before the conference got underway, a number of countries seemed ready to promise financial support.

Britain said it would provide more than $1 billion for World Bank loans and fiscal support grants and guarantee World Bank loans for a further half-billion dollars, along with immediate support for land-mine clearance and rebuilding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Vivek Shankar contributed reporting.

Correction: July 5, 2022

An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of the president of the European Commission. She is Ursula von der Leyen, not van der Leyen.

Dan Bilefsky is an international correspondent, based in Montreal. He was previously based in London, Paris, Prague and New York. He was part of the team that won the 2022 George Polk Award for an investigation of the assassination of Haiti’s president. He is the author of the true crime thriller “The Last Job.” @DanBilefsky

Nick Cumming-Bruce reports from Geneva, covering the United Nations, human rights and international humanitarian organizations. Previously he was the Southeast Asia reporter for The Guardian for 20 years and the Bangkok bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal Asia. 

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

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Ukraine says it used a U.S.-supplied rocket launcher to strike 40 miles behind Russian lines.

Senate Armed Services Committee chair says the multiple-rocket launcher system provided by the U.S. is crucial to Ukraine’s campaign.

A Ukrainian becomes the second woman ever to win the Fields Medal, the prestigious mathematics prize.

Our Coverage of the Russia-Ukraine War

On the Diplomatic Front

NATO’s 30 member states formally approved membership bids for Finland and Sweden, sending their applications to alliance capitals for ratification by legislatures. The two nations’ accession would enhance the alliance’s deterrence against Russia and make it easier to police the Baltic Sea and defend Baltic nations.

Faced with a newly aggressive Russia, NATO leaders outlined a new vision that names Moscow as the military alliance’s primary adversary. It also declares China to be a strategic “challenge.”

On the Ground

With the fall of the eastern city Lysychansk, the Luhansk Province is now firmly in Russia’s grasp after weeks of brutal fighting. This development puts Russian troops in position to push on toward other eastern cities in the Donetsk Province.

The pace of Russia’s strikes on civilian targets, often with outdated and imprecise missiles, is picking up as its forces run low on more sophisticated weapons. Here are a few of the largest attacks, along with how Russia has explained away responsibility.

Ukrainians and the War

Ukrainian volunteers with limited training are increasingly heading into the kind of battles that test even the most experienced soldiers. Many of them are not making it.

​​International agencies are joining Ukrainian prosecutors in what may be the biggest effort ever to hold war criminals to account. But the difficulties and dangers they face are exceptional, too.

​​At the Cultural Defense shows in Lviv, comedians and audiences look for humor amid a deadly conflict. Don’t mind the air raid alarms.

Russians and the War

In the months since President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called the invasion of Ukraine a “denazification” mission, the lie that the government and culture of Ukraine are filled with dangerous “Nazis” has become a central theme of Kremlin propaganda about the war.

​​As the trial of the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner on drug charges gets underway in Moscow, there are hints that the Kremlin might be interested in a deal with the Biden administration that would link Ms. Griner’s fate to that of the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States.

How We Verify Our Reporting

The Times has deployed dozens of journalists on the ground in Ukraine, as a way to cut through the fog of misinformation. A security team watches out for them.

Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs, videos and radio transmissions to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts.

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