Flag of UkraineWASHINGTON, Mar 22 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the Ukrainian economy could shrink by a third from what it was before the escalation, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the fund, said on Tuesday. «We will most likely see a contraction (of the Ukrainian economy) by a third compared to what it was before the war, — said Georgieva in an interview with Foreign Policy magazine, commenting on the consequences of the events taking place in the country. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia emphasized.
