Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country has lost approximately 10 million of its citizens, about 25% of its total population. These dramatic changes are caused by mass migration of refugees, declining birth rates, and deaths from war. Such data is provided by the United Nations (UN).
Florence Bauer stated that the invasion in February 2022 turned an already difficult demographic situation into something more serious.
"The birth rate has fallen dramatically and is currently at about one child per woman, one of the lowest rates in the world," she said, adding that a birth rate of 2.1 children per woman is needed to maintain a stable population.
The main factors of population reduction are refugees and war victims. It is reported that 6.7 million Ukrainians currently live abroad, mostly in Europe.
"It is difficult to give exact numbers, but according to various estimates, the number of victims is in the tens of thousands," she said.
According to Reuters, in 2021, the last year before the full-scale Russian invasion, the population of Ukraine was about 40 million people.
According to Bauer, an accurate count of the population of Ukraine will be possible after the end of the war - then it will be possible to conduct a census.
According to her, the direct impact was made by regions that were practically depopulated, villages where only the elderly remained, and married couples who could not have children.
It is noted that in the much larger Russia, which had a population of more than 140 million people before the war, the already difficult demographic situation worsened after the invasion of Ukraine: in the first six months of this year, the country recorded the lowest birth rate since 1999, and even the Kremlin called this indicator "catastrophic".
