It took several months of Russia’s full-scale invasion to turn some of the most valuable assets of Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov into a pile of dust, metal, and concrete. The tycoon's long list of painful business losses includes the Mariupol-based Azovstal steel plant, one of the largest in Europe, and Ukraine’s second-largest metallurgical enterprise Ilyich Iron and Steel Works. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of Oct. 31, Akhmetov’s net worth fell by 52% to $5.39 bil

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s exports were a reason to celebrate. Last year, the country hit a 10-year record with $68 billion in exports. As Russia’s invasion enters its seventh month, no one can predict when Ukraine can expect to post these kinds of results again. According to Ukraine’s State Statistics Service, for the first half of the year, the country’s exports decreased by a quarter to $22.7 billion, with imports falling to $25.2 billion, or a 20% decrease year-over-yea

As Ukrainian soldiers fight Russia on the front lines, workers at Ukraine’s state employment centers are fighting their own battle: finding jobs for the hundreds of thousands of people who are now unemployed as a result of Russia’s war. The war has forced the country’s unemployment rate to jump threefold to an “unprecedented” level of 35%, or 5.2 million people, due to a “sharp decline in economic activity and migration from the front-line regions,” according to a recent report published by the

In its brutal war of conquest in Ukraine, Russia has been destroying everything in its path since its full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24. In addition to the immense human toll Russia’s war has taken on Ukraine, the country’s businesses – from small сozy cafes, cinemas, and supermarkets to large metallurgical plants and agricultural corporations – have suffered greatly from the full-scale invasion. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, direct losses of enterprises, housing, and infrastru

Russia's war in Ukraine is not only killing civilians but defenseless animals as well. Marine biologists and ecologists from countries in the Black Sea region are sounding the alarm, as dolphins die en masse for the fourth month in a row. Ivan Rusev, an environmental scientist at Ukraine's Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park, estimates at least 5,000 dolphins have died in the Black Sea between March and July. This number is three times higher compared to pre-war figures, according to Rusev.

Ukrainian farmers begin the July harvest knowing there may be nowhere to store their grain or export it, as Russia’s naval blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports enters its fifth month. According to Ukraine's estimates, 22 million tons of grain already stockpiled across the country remain in their silos. By fall, that number may reach 60 million. While the Kremlin has failed to reduce Ukraine to a landlocked country, Russia has captured naval superiority in the northern Black Sea, obstructing p

In 1937, Pablo Picasso, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest painters in history, said after visiting an exhibition in Paris: “I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.” He was talking about the folk painter Maria Prymachenko and her paintings in the “naive art” genre. Eighty-five years later, on Feb. 26, a collection of 25 of her works almost burned up when the Russian military fired on a museum in the village of Ivankovo in Kyiv Oblast. The museum’s other exh

Unlike Ukraine's manufacturing plants, warehouses and stores, many of which lie in ruins, its IT sector has had much better luck. The tech industry reacted with lightning speed to the new reality dictated by Russia's all-out war against Ukraine. Early in the invasion and even before it, companies started to relocate whole teams into safer western Ukrainian regions. Other IT specialists continued to work remotely even in dangerous areas close to the front line. The results surprised many. In t

After Ukraine ended 2021 with a historically high gross domestic product (GDP) of $195 billion, top officials issued optimistic forecasts for the coming year. Then the war began, killing all of the country's economic plans. As of late April, the Russian military has destroyed 30% of Ukraine’s infrastructure, causing $100 billion worth of damage. Total losses to the economy, both direct and indirect, have already reached over $560 billion, according to the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky'

As Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine, experts feared that the Ukrainian banking system would collapse in the event of an all-out war. The closure of Ukraine's main banks, cashless ATMs, and free fall of the national currency were expected by many. Yet, the Ukrainian banking system proved the opposite, remaining functional two months into Russia's ongoing war. “For everyone, it is just a miracle how Ukraine was able to keep the banking system alive and make it work during the war,” Ruslan

Editor's Note: Natalia Datskevych is a journalist with the Kyiv Independent. An endless feeling of fear that seems to never go away. Every loud sound, every sudden spark in the sky, causes panic. My life, together with the lives of millions of Ukrainians, turned into hell when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This is the story of how I was trapped near the Russian border with my husband and my three daughters and how we were able to finally escape. Hours after the war began

Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes as Russian forces continue to bombard residential areas across the country. While more than 3 million have gone abroad, many have relocated to western Ukraine, which is currently safer than the rest of the country. English teacher Oleksiy Shpak and his wife were among those who arrived in western Ukraine escaping the front lines of Russia's war. Yet two weeks in, the family took a train back to Odesa Oblast. They say it was impossibl

Spring. As the winter softens, Ukraine’s farmers used to take to their fields, sowing the seeds of wheat, sunflowers, and buckwheat and tending to poultry farms whose yields are sent across the world. This year, planting has become a luxury, in many cases fields and livestock have been abandoned. Millions of hectares will be empty, or otherwise overrun by tanks emblazoned with the letter Z. While the world watches one humanitarian crisis after another brought by Russia’s war, a no less critica

Companies in Ukraine are about to receive temporary tax and legal relief amid growing threats of a full-scale war with Russia. On Feb. 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a program on “economic patriotism,” which will ease the tax burden, including possibly reducing value-added tax from current 20% to 8% on petrol and diesel, and fewer inspections. “Business should protect our economy, finances, and create jobs. We need to be strengthening the country together, each on its own

On Feb. 8, the Diia City, a special legal and tax regime for IT businesses, came into force. With Diia City, the government wants to raise the share of the IT sector in the country's gross domestic product to 10% from the current 4%. As of Feb. 11, three days after the launch, 52 companies had applied to join Diia City. Among the best-known applicants were: the U.K.-based banking tech startup Revolut, artificial intellegence (AI) investor Roosh, Ukrainian security system maker Ajax, Ukrainian