Russia’s war costs up to $60 billion, says World Bank

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Russia’s war costs up to $60 billion, says World Bank

The physical damage to Ukrainian buildings and infrastructure from Russia's invasion has now reached $60 billion, according to World Bank President David Malpass.

Malpass told the World Bank at the beginning of the day that the early estimates did not include the growing economic costs of the war.

He said that the war is still going on and that costs are rising, according to Reuters.

The UN Human Rights Chief said in a Friday statement that international humanitarian law appears to have been tossed aside in the war.

The office said Russian armed forces have indiscriminately bombed and shelled populated areas, killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, actions that could amount to war crimes. The mission in Ukraine has confirmed 5,264 civilian deaths, including 2,345 deaths, but 92.3% of those were recorded in Ukrainian government-controlled territory.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stated that the actual numbers are going to be much higher as the horrors in these areas of intense fighting such as Mariupol come to light. Satellite images released Thursday showed what appeared to be mass graves near Mariupol, where local officials accused Russia of burying up to 9,000 Ukrainian civilians.

The imagery showed long rows of graves stretching away from an existing cemetery in the town of Manhush.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russians of hiding their military crimes by taking the bodies of civilians from the city and burying them in Manhush.

Russia, which denies such claims and has said that images of streets lined with corpses were staged by Ukraine, has continued its offensive, targeting eastern cities and the Donbas region.

On Friday, India and Britain called for an immediate cease-fire between Russia and Britain.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. for the new page of $800 million in military aid, said in a virtual address to the World Bank conference that Ukraine needs $7 billion per month to make up for economic losses caused by Russia.

He said that countries that have imposed sanctions on Russian assets should use the money to rebuild Ukraine.

Ukraine's GDP could decline by 30% to 50%, with direct and indirect losses totaling $560 billion so far, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.