KIEV, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government estimates the economic damage from the armed conflict in the country's eastern regions at about 50 billion U.S. dollars, a senior Defense Ministry official said Tuesday.
"In eastern Ukraine, the facilities of energy, transport and social infrastructure have been destroyed. People were left without jobs. It caused a direct loss of 50 billion U.S. dollars, according to the preliminary calculations," Ivan Rusnak, Ukraine's first deputy defense minister, told reporters.
The conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Rusnak said, noting that many civilians are currently in need of housing, medicine and food aid.
The conflict between government troops and rebels since April 2014 in eastern Ukraine has killed some 10,000 people and left about 3.8 million others in need of humanitarian assistance.
