Figures given indicate how much the war costs Russia circulates online. But according to Per Olsson, a researcher at FOI, it is almost impossible to put a credible price tag.
- Are you saying that this has been more expensive than what Russia expected, yes absolutely. If you say an exact figure - very doubtful, he tells SVT Nyheter.
Fired rockets, fuel, destroyed armored vehicles and dead soldiers. An invasion is expensive, everyone agrees, but how expensive?
Anyone looking for answers can read in several media that the first four days of the war may have cost Russia at least seven billion dollars.
The figure comes from a study conducted by a group of Ukrainian citizens. In the calculations, they have, among other things, used the Ukrainian military's data on Russian losses as a basis.
If you also include surrounding factors such as logistics, the bill is probably over $ 20 billion every day, according to the group.
Several complicated variables
According to Per Olsson, defense economist at the Swedish Defense Research Agency, such figures should be taken with a pinch of salt. In addition to the difficulty of determining exactly how many vehicles, people and ammunition were lost, there are several problems.
- Take a downed helicopter. If you can identify what type it is, then you may have an idea of cost. Then you should count on what type of armament it had when it went down, if the staff ironed with it and the fuel costs in it, says Per Olsson.
- Then you have the whole complexity of how you value a human life, what is lost there. It's not just the soldier and the investment, it could be a 19-year-old who would have been working for 40 years. It should also be counted as a loss.
Russia especially difficult
According to Per Olsson, it is generally difficult to calculate how much a war costs. But the fact that Russia is now a warring party makes it particularly complicated.
- Much of their equipment is up to date. This is how they have modernized their defense force, it is very much based on taking old T-72s from the 70s and updating them with new armor and electronics, he says.
- It is very difficult to know what the cost of such a system really is.
Per Olsson also raises a warning finger about reporting on Russian losses.
- It's easy to conclude that well, Russian stuff gets knocked out, therefore Russian equipment is crap. It could also be that tanks in general are vulnerable to the type of top-attack weapons used, he says.