Luke Cooper

Kyiv still relies heavily on foreign support for its war effort, and it has agreed to difficult terms to keep the US on side

Despite Russia’s occupation of its territory, missile attacks on its infrastructure and the enormous human costs of the war, Ukraine’s economy has been impressively resilient. Its effective military resistance against a much stronger adversary is in fact underpinned by this successful economic management. Rather than face institutional sclerosis or even collapse, Ukraine’s state capacity has been strengthened by the conflict. Through a combination of tax revenue collection and substantial networks of voluntary fundraising, the state has dramatically increased the size of its armed forces, invested in defence production and maintained a decent level of public infrastructure.