On 23 February 2026, the fifth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA5) for Ukraine was released. The assessment was prepared jointly by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank, the European Commission, and the UN, covering the period from 24 February 2022 to 31 December 2025.

At the request of the World Bank, Cedos experts — Anastasiia Bobrova, Yuliia Kabanets, Alina Khelashvili, Yaroslav Onyshchuk, Sviatoslav Zembitskyi, Nataliia Lomonosova, and Yuliia Nazarenko — contributed to the “Human Impact Assessment” section.

The assessment notes that Russia’s full-scale invasion has exacerbated poverty and inequality, deepening pre-existing structural challenges. The most affected groups include internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees, older persons, people with disabilities, youth, war veterans, and their families. They face economic hardships, limited access to stable employment, a shortage of adequate housing, and insufficient comprehensive social services.

Access to adequate and affordable housing remains a cross-cutting issue:

“IDPs rely on the private rental sector, often without written contracts, and thus face heightened risks of eviction and volatile rent increases. Housing affordability continues to deteriorate broadly and for IDPs in particular, as around half of IDP renters spend more than one-third of their income on rent, and 18 percent spend over half”.

The report also emphasizes that access to comprehensive social support remains limited despite growing needs:

“Capacity limitations, damaged infrastructure, funding gaps, staff shortages, and poor working conditions for social workers continue to undermine service delivery, especially in frontline and rural municipalities. Strengthening community-based health, social protection, and long-term care systems is essential to meet the needs of a growing and aging population of persons with disabilities”.

RDNA5 highlights the need to move from fragmented assistance toward integrated solutions and recommends prioritizing investments in:

  • Social and affordable housing programs that will increase security and transparency in the private rental sector, tailored to the needs of different social groups
  • A comprehensive social services system and associated infrastructure
  • Inclusive labor market integration through vocational training and reskilling
  • Strengthened data collection and research that disaggregates data (by sex, age, disability status, war veteran status, and ethnic minority status) to track differential impacts and support the recovery, including the needs for social services and housing.

Overall losses and recovery needs

According to RDNA5, direct damage to Ukraine has reached $195 billion—$19 billion higher than in RDNA4 (February 2025). One-third of the total damage affects the housing sector. As of 31 December 2025, 14% of housing was damaged or destroyed, affecting three million households.

Over the next ten years, Ukraine will require nearly $588 billion for reconstruction and recovery, with housing among the top three sectors in need, estimated at around $90 billion (up from $84 billion in RDNA4).

RDNA is a comprehensive assessment of damage, losses, and recovery needs following Russia’s full-scale invasion, conducted according to international standards. The findings guide recovery funding decisions. “This report provides internationally recognized damage assessments that can be used in both reconstruction planning and claims against the aggressor state,” said Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The full RDNA5 report is available here.

Photo: Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine