War Losses in Numbers: Ukraine’s Judiciary Orders Russia to Pay Hundreds of Billions

Ukrainian courts have already awarded more than 386 billion UAH in compensation from Russia to businesses in frontline regions.

The Gaze reports on this, referring to Opendatabot.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, courts have issued 639 rulings on compensation for damages caused to Ukrainian companies by Russian aggression. Half of them (311 rulings) concern businesses from frontline regions, where the impact has been the most severe.

The total amount of compensation in these regions exceeds 386 billion UAH. The largest number of cases was considered in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

The absolute record was set by the Commercial Court of Chernihiv Region, which awarded almost 288 billion UAH to the agricultural company “Magnat.” This ruling pushed Chernihiv Region to the top of the national ranking by total awarded compensation — over 344 billion UAH, far ahead of all other regions.

The dynamics of court decisions show a rapid increase in both the number of claims and the size of awarded compensation throughout 2022–2024. This reflects the scale of destruction as well as the readiness of businesses to formally document their losses. In 2022, courts issued only five such rulings; in 2023 — already 57; and in 2024 the total amount peaked at more than 297 billion UAH.

Overall, 85% of claims were fully satisfied, 87 were partially upheld, and only 0.5% were rejected. This indicates a consistent trend: Ukrainian courts continue to affirm Russia’s responsibility for the damage and are building a legal foundation for future international recovery efforts.

Earlier, the Ukrainian government has introduced a new nationwide compensation mechanism to support businesses affected by Russia’s armed aggression. 

The policy establishes a legal framework for reimbursing war-related losses and consists of two components. 

First, businesses located in high-risk, frontline regions — including Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv — can receive direct compensation of up to 10 million UAH for property destroyed or damaged due to Russian attacks. These payments cover losses to buildings, warehouses, equipment and other assets. Applications will be processed by Ukraine’s Export Credit Agency (ECA), which administers the payouts from the state budget. 

The second component applies nationwide and supports insurance against war-related risks. In regions where insurance companies are able to offer such coverage, businesses can purchase a policy and later receive state reimbursement of part of the premium (up to 1 million UAH) through the ECA. This is intended to reduce the financial burden on entrepreneurs and stimulate the development of the war-risk insurance market.

In parallel with the new compensation mechanism, Ukraine and its international partners have launched the fifth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA5), which will measure the full scale of destruction through the end of 2025. 

As The Gaze reported earlier, the previous RDNA4 documented more than 236,000 damaged or destroyed homes, about 13% of the country’s housing stock, while frontline regions accounted for roughly 82% of all recorded damage and attacks on energy infrastructure grew by an estimated 70% this year. The updated assessment reflects a broader shift from rebuilding individual sites to planning the integrated recovery of entire communities.

Read more on The Gaze: (Re)Building Ukraine’s Economy as a Pillar of Regional Stability and Security