Amid low birth rates, war and emigration, Ukraine’s numbers are dwindling

Ukraine is shrinking.

The war has killed tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers. At least 5 million more have fled and live outside Ukraine, and a fifth of the country — another 5 million people — are under Russian occupation.

And the number of deaths is nearly three times the number of births, according to the justice minister.

These missing Ukrainians — the ones who have fled, the dead, the occupied — have left a gaping hole in today’s Ukraine that will greatly shape what sort of country will be left when the conflict ends. A diminished population could have a major impact on the country’s economic health, political stability, ethnic makeup and ability to fight wars in the future.

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