The Ukraine War in data: $60 billion in US aid — while a top Republican warns of no ‘blank check’

We have reported before on the vast military and financial assistance the United States, NATO and several European nations have provided to Ukraine for its resistance against the Russian invasion. This week, we return to the issue of war aid for several reasons: first, because U.S. support has now surpassed $60 billion. That dwarfs any other U.S. foreign military assistance in one year since the Vietnam War.

Second, because the U.S. contribution could soon end: Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., now the minority leader in the House of Representatives, said this week that if the Republicans retake control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, they would not “write a blank check” for Ukraine. While other Republican lawmakers were quick to affirm their support for the Ukrainian resistance, a GOP victory in the House will bring more scrutiny to this giving.

Meanwhile, a “Ukraine Support Tracker” curated by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy provides helpful perspective in terms of the relative contributions of various countries. The numbers do not include recent pledges that have brought the U.S. figure to $60 billion — but they show that the American contribution is more the triple that of the European Union, and more than eight times the British figure. Some of this has to do with the fact that the U.S. has weaponry and weapons stocks that the others do not; still, it’s a case where the statistics tell a story.

We offer a more comprehensive set of data points on the war in Ukraine below. Grid originally published this document on March 24. We update it every Thursday to provide a fuller picture of the conflict.

Civilians killed: at least 6,300 (probably thousands more)

On June 7, a Ukrainian official said at least 40,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed or wounded since the war began. The official offered no breakdown of dead versus wounded civilians. The United Nations’ latest estimate of civilians killed is over 6,300, but it consistently notes the figure is an underestimate, as is its estimate of total casualties — a combination of deaths and injuries — given as over 15,000. (Updated Oct. 19; source, source.)

Ukrainian soldiers killed: 5,500 to 11,000

Top advisers to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated in June that 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the war began. Meanwhile, on Aug. 22, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, said the country had lost about 9,000 troops. In mid-April, U.S. intelligence officials put the number at 5,500 to 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed since the invasion. On June 10, an adviser to Zelenskyy said Ukraine was losing as many as 200 soldiers each day. (Updated Aug. 24; source, source, source.)

Russian soldiers killed: 5,937 to over 66,000

Ukraine has raised its estimate of Russian soldiers killed in the conflict to more than 66,000 this week. These numbers have been updated frequently through the Facebook page for the country’s General Staff of the Armed Forces. In its first update on casualties since March, Russia claimed in late September that there had been 5,937 Russian military deaths. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said in April that there had been “significant losses of troops, and it’s a huge tragedy for us.” (Updated Oct. 19; source.)

Russian generals killed: 8 to 13

A retired Russian general was reportedly shot down over Luhansk in late May — by Ukrainian counts, this was the 13th Russian general to be killed in Ukraine. Previously, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported that eight to 10 Russian generals had been killed in Ukraine. Grid’s Tom Nagorski and Joshua Keating previously reported on the possible explanations for this “inconceivable” toll: poor communications and command-and-control structures within the Russian military. (Updated May 25; source, source.)

Total displaced Ukrainians: approximately 14 million

There are more than 7.7 million Ukrainian refugees currently reported in other European countries. United Nations data indicates more than 14 million Ukrainians have crossed the border since the start of the war, but millions have returned home, largely from Poland, as Nikhil Kumar and Kseniia Lisnycha reported. In early October, the International Organization for Migration’s latest survey of internally displaced Ukrainians found more Ukrainians returning home from within Ukraine, but more than 6 million remained displaced within their own country. (Updated Oct. 19; source; source.)

Internally displaced Ukrainians: more than 6.2 million

An overview of the violence

Global food markets: Wheat prices inching above preinvasion levels

Recent Grid coverage

• Russia is trying to steal Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Experts doubt Putin can really pull it off. (Oct. 18)
• The Biden administration is furious at Saudi Arabia: What it means for gas prices and the war in Ukraine (Oct. 17)
• World in Photos: Assessing the damage after a brutal week in Ukraine (Oct. 14)
• Opposition to Ukraine war weakens as young Russians flee conscription and far-right nationalists grow stronger (Oct. 13)
• Putin might lose the war. What would that look like for Russia, Ukraine and the world? (Oct. 10)
• ‘Putin vs. the People’: How much do Russians really support their president and the war in Ukraine? (Oct. 7)

Learn more: Grid’s 360s on the Ukraine War

• 360: What led to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II
• 360: Casualty of war in Ukraine: The global food supply
• 360: War in Ukraine: How we got here — and what may come next
• 360: Russia’s billionaires: Who they are, what they own — and can they influence Vladimir Putin?
• 360: Why danger still looms at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants