500 days of war in Ukraine: At what cost?

Five-hundred days ago, in the early hours of a cold February morning, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its western neighbour, Ukraine.

The Kremlin had hoped for a quick “special military operation” but 16-and-a-half months later, fighting is still raging with no immediate end in sight.

As the war reaches another grim milestone on Saturday, here are just some of the sombre ways it has upended life for tens of millions of people:

• 6.3 million Ukrainians have become refugees, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR)
• 9,083 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, according to the latest figures from the UN’s rights office (OHCHR); the real toll, however, is feared to be much higher
• 15,779 civilians have been wounded in Ukraine, according to the OHCHR
• Military casualties on both sides of the war are difficult to establish and verify; the warring sides often estimate rival losses, and are understood to downplay their own
• The cost of destruction is thought to be more than $143bn*, according to the latest findings from the Kyiv School of Economics
• It is estimated that Russia controls less than 20 percent of Ukrainian territory