Russia has destroyed or severely damaged 50 million square meters of housing in Ukraine during its full-scale aggression, the Ukrainian news outlet Economichna Pravda reported on April 22, citing the chair of the ruling Servant of the People party, Olena Shulyak.
More than 640,000 cases of damage or destruction of housing have been reported so far in the unified state application of electronic services Diia.
“Russia has destroyed in two years what should have taken 5 years to build,” she said, adding that before the invasion, an average of 10 million square meters of housing was built each year in Ukraine.
“In 2023, we received 98,000 applications (for compensation), 52,000 were approved – people received UAH 5 billion (nearly $856 million) in compensation for damaged housing.”
As part of its response to the extensive destruction, the Ukrainian government has started issuing housing certificates to residents with destroyed properties. These certificates can be used to purchase new homes, including properties in border areas.
A significant number of displaced residents are opting to relocate to Kyiv and the surrounding Kyiv Oblast, although others are also moving to the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions.