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Context
Following the Russian invasion in Ukraine on the 24th of February, 2022, the suburbs in the northwest of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city, were occupied and/or became battle grounds in late February. Through the end of March, hundreds of residential buildings were reportedly damaged, with various degrees of severity.
Official estimates of damaged infrastructure (both residential and nonresidential structures) based on field inspections remain rather scarse. According to official estimates, 70-75% of Irpin's buildings had been damaged, with at least 115 having been completely destroyed. An alternative look on situation with infrastructure's damage was applied by United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT). They used high-resolution satellite imagery to assess a number of structures visually sustained damage or destruction.2 More than 1,000 buildings (28%) were revealed to be damaged; most of them correspond to rather 'severe damage' or 'total destruction' than to 'moderate or possible damage' category (Image 1 and 2).
An assessment based on remote sensing data (i.e., satellite imagery) can provide not only the estimates of damaged structures' number, but additional insights of economic loss and harm to social well-being. However, light damage (e.g., broken windows) cannot easily be detected by two-dimensional satellite images. Another reliable source for damage estimates can be the imagery acquired during drone surveys and accompanied with three-dimensional surface models. A recent assessment for Irpin3 revealed the substantial number of light damaged buildings and was a basis for the estimation of economic loss. Based on building construction prices, it reported the loss of 922 mln. USD and 48% of buildings being damaged.