Gaëlle Girbes

Winner of the 2024 Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many villages and towns have been wiped from the map. According to a joint report published in February 2025 by the World Bank, the Ukrainian government, the European Commission, and the United Nations, almost 30% of the Ukrainian territory has been left in ruins and mined. An area equivalent to that of Cambodia or six times that of Belgium. According to the same study, the reconstruction of this vast area will cost an estimated 524 billion dollars over the next ten years, though it is impossible to establish an exact figure while the war continues.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure has recorded 4.6 million people who have lost their homes. This figure only includes those who have fled and have registered as IDPs, but not those who have stayed, been killed or have disappeared.