The Climate and Energy Impacts of Putin’s War on Ukraine
It’s been a year since Russian President Putin declared an unprovoked war on Ukraine. Much has changed since then — not just in Russia and Ukraine but worldwide.
The war’s true cost will prove incalculable. How do you cost account the scourge of a sovereign nation of 41 million people by an autocratic leader bent on empire?
The Save the Children campaign estimates that eight million Ukrainians have become refugees since the war began, and six million are internally displaced; just under two million of the eight million have returned. Many of the 14 million will have no homes to return to at war’s end and will likely seek new lives in foreign lands.
Many nations are paying the price of Putin’s war in different ways. For the US and the Western and NATO allied countries, there are the tens of billions of dollars for guns, missiles, tanks, and other implements of war. Let’s not forget the billions for humanitarian and economic aid.
Once the aggressor is defeated, billions more will be needed to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure — its cities and towns. Not all payments will be made in cash.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has accused Russia of creating the largest minefield in the world on 250,000 square kilometers of prime agricultural lands…
