The Russian occupation of Ukraine resulted in US$500 million in Russia's losses / REUTERS

The Russian Federation has lost about US$500 billion over the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and the war in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin critic, former member of Russia's State Duma Dmitry Gudkov, who left for Ukraine, announced the figure in an interview for Deutsche Welle's Ukrainian bureau.

"This is about US$500 billion in losses. This is what is visible. Capital outflows, investment losses. These are sanctions against various enterprises that have lost profits (...) And most importantly, Russia, in fact, has found itself in global isolation," he said.

According to Gudkov, Russia will have to recover from this over the course of decades. During this time, the losses caused by the aggressive policy towards Ukraine will increase at least two to three times, he said.

Gudkov also believes these losses tell on ordinary Russians.

"I think 30% of income has been lost over these seven years. This, of course, is Crimea, and the policy that Putin has been pursuing, as there are no reforms," he said.

Read alsoRussian aggression costs Donbas at least US$50 bln – experts

Previous developments

  • Gudkov was detained in Russia on June 1, 2021. Russia's law enforcement agencies raided on his and his family members' homes. Two days later, the politician was released from custody. He is a suspect in a criminal case of property damage by deception or breach of trust. Under this article, he faces up to five years in prison. The plaintiff in the case is the Moscow City Property Department.
  • Gudkov believes that the authorities use criminal prosecution in an attempt to prevent him from participating in elections to the State Duma and  presidential elections.
  • On June 7, 2021, it became known that Gudkov had left Russia for Ukraine because of the criminal prosecution. Later, some media reported that the Russian opposition leader would further relocate to Bulgaria.