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Ukraine War Damage Tops $100 Billion So Far

A residential building destroyed by shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 3, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maksim Levin
A residential building destroyed by shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 3, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maksim Levin
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Ukraine War Damage Tops $100 Billion So Far

A residential building destroyed by shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 3, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maksim Levin
A residential building destroyed by shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 3, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maksim Levin

Ukraine's top government economic adviser Oleg Ustenko said on Thursday that invading Russian forces have so far destroyed at least $100 billion worth of infrastructure, buildings and other physical assets.

Ustenko, chief economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told an online event hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics that the war has caused 50% of Ukrainian businesses to shut down completely, while the other half are operating at well below their capacity.

According to Reuters, he said the damage estimate is "very approximate" and includes roads, bridges, hospitals, equipment and other assets.

Asked how such a reconstruction effort could be financed, Ustenko said part of it could come from Russian assets that are frozen throughout the world, including Russian central bank assets held outside the country and immobilized by Western sanctions. The seized assets of wealthy Russian oligarchs could also be transferred to a reconstruction fund, he added.

Asked about the resilience of Ukraine's financial system, and bank payment operations, Ustenko said: "Look, we are doing, I would say, OK under the current circumstances."

He said Ukraine's fiscal reserves are currently at about $27.5 billion, down from about $30 billion before the invasion.

Despite some pressure on the hryvnia currency, Ukrainians in areas not occupied by Russian forces are able to access cash via ATMs and supermarket cashiers without the long lines seen in the first two days of the war, and credit card and other electronic payment systems are working normally, he added.

"Even in those cities surrounded by now by the Russian army...(residents) are able use their cards," Ustenko said.

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World

Report: Iran Supreme Leader Healing from Serious Injuries

A woman walks next to a banner with a picture of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, May 8, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman walks next to a banner with a picture of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, May 8, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Report: Iran Supreme Leader Healing from Serious Injuries

A woman walks next to a banner with a picture of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, May 8, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman walks next to a banner with a picture of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, May 8, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

US intelligence assesses that Iran’s new supreme leader is playing a critical role in shaping war strategy alongside senior Iranian officials, according to multiple sources familiar with the intelligence, reported CNN on Saturday.

The reports found that “precise authority within a now-fractured regime remains unclear, but that Mojtaba Khamenei is likely helping direct how Iran is managing negotiations with the US to end the war.”

Khamenei has not been seen in public since he sustained serious injuries during an attack that killed his father and several of the country’s top military leaders at the beginning of the war, leading to speculation about his health and role in the Iranian leadership structure.

The Trump administration continues to pursue a diplomatic end to the conflict as a ceasefire stretches past a month with US intelligence assessing that Iran continues to dig out from the US bombing campaign that left significant Iranian military capabilities intact and the ability to survive months more of an American blockade, according to sources.

Khamenei was announced as Iran’s new supreme leader replacing his father days after the strike that injured him, but to date the US intelligence community has not been able to visually confirm his whereabouts, the sources said.

“Part of the uncertainty stems from Khamenei not using any electronics to communicate, instead only interacting with those who can visit him in-person or by sending messages via a courier,” one of the sources added.

“Khamenei remains isolated as he continues to receive medical treatment for his injuries, including bad burns on one side of his body impacting his face, arm, torso, leg,” the sources added, according to CNN.

Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol in the office of Iran’s supreme leader, on Friday said Khamenei is healing from his injuries and “is now in complete health.” Hosseini said Khamenei’s foot and lower back were slightly injured and that “a small piece of shrapnel had hit him behind the ear,” but that the wounds are healing.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told Iranian state media earlier this week that he had held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Khamenei, marking the first reported in-person meeting between a top Iranian official and the country’s new supreme leader.

What US officials do know about Khamenei’s status is based on information picked up from those who are communicating with him, the sources familiar told CNN. “There is, however, some question among intelligence analysts as to whether some in Iran’s power structure might be claiming access to Khamenei to coopt his authority to push their own agendas.”

The war has degraded Iran’s military capabilities, but not destroyed them, according to US intelligence reports. CNN previously reported that US intelligence assessed that roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers had survived US strikes. A recent report increased that figure to two thirds partially due to the ongoing ceasefire providing Iran with time to dig out launchers that might have been buried in previous strikes, according to sources familiar with the intelligence.

A separate CIA report found that Iran can likely last up to four more months of the ongoing American blockade without complete destabilization of its economy, the sources said.

While US intelligence assessments indicate that Khamenei is involved in helping develop Iran’s negotiating strategy for a diplomatic end to the war, one source familiar with the latest information told CNN there is evidence he is fairly removed from the decision-making process and only sporadically accessible.

As a result, senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officials are essentially running the day-to-day operations along with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the source added. “There is no indication he is actually giving orders on any ongoing basis but nothing proving he is not,” a second source familiar with the US intelligence assessments said, referring to Khamenei.

World

Iran's Guards Threaten US Mideast Sites as Trump Awaits Tehran Response

This US Navy handout photo released on May 8, 2026 by US Central Command Public Affairs, shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) implementing a maritime blockade against the Iran-flagged crude oil tanker vessel Herby while the latter was attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, on April 24, 2026. (Photo by US NAVY / AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on May 8, 2026 by US Central Command Public Affairs, shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) implementing a maritime blockade against the Iran-flagged crude oil tanker vessel Herby while the latter was attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, on April 24, 2026. (Photo by US NAVY / AFP)
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Iran's Guards Threaten US Mideast Sites as Trump Awaits Tehran Response

This US Navy handout photo released on May 8, 2026 by US Central Command Public Affairs, shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) implementing a maritime blockade against the Iran-flagged crude oil tanker vessel Herby while the latter was attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, on April 24, 2026. (Photo by US NAVY / AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on May 8, 2026 by US Central Command Public Affairs, shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) implementing a maritime blockade against the Iran-flagged crude oil tanker vessel Herby while the latter was attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, on April 24, 2026. (Photo by US NAVY / AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened Saturday to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran's response to its latest negotiating position.

"Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centers in the region and enemy ships," the Guards said, a day after US strikes on two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

US President Donald Trump had said on Friday he was expecting Iran's answer to Washington's latest proposal for a peace deal "supposedly tonight".

But if Tehran sent Pakistani mediators a response, there was no public sign of it, and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly questioned the reliability of US leadership.

Araghchi said that the recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Arabian Gulf “and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy”. His remarks came in a call with his Turkish counterpart, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

On Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran's ports. An Iranian military official told local media the navy had responded with strikes.

That incident followed another flare-up the night before in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control in order to extract tolls and wield economic leverage over the United States and its allies.

The US says it is unacceptable for Tehran to control the key oil route.

Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict, launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

A reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said Saturday that Trump had told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran's answer "very soon".

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Friday the proposal was still "under review".

- Oil slick -

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio met Saturday with the leader of Qatar, a key intermediary for Washington in dialogue with Iran, discussing "continued close coordination to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East," the State Department said.

Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met the previous day with US Vice President JD Vance to discuss the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.

Iran has attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the emirate's role as host of a major US air base.

Meanwhile, satellite images have shown an apparent oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran's Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Iranian republic.

It was not immediately clear what caused the apparent spill, which was off the island's west coast and appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometers), according to global monitor Orbital EOS.

A UK-based non-governmental organization, the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told AFP that by Saturday the slick was "much reduced", and may have been caused by leaking oil infrastructure.

Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran's oil export industry, a lynchpin of its battered economy, and lies in the Gulf far north of the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

Following the start of the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the strait, throwing global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices.

The US later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response, and Trump this week abandoned a short-lived US naval operation to reopen the strait to commercial shipping.

- Lebanon front -

A parallel ceasefire on the war's Lebanon front is also under strain amid daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Authorities said at least nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, while state media reported air raids targeting a highway south of Beirut, outside the militant group's traditional strongholds.

The fresh attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones on at least two occasions in response to the continued strikes.

Israel's military said several explosive drones were launched into Israeli territory, with one army reservist severely wounded and two others moderately injured.

The fresh strikes come as Lebanon and Israel, officially at war since 1948, are to hold direct negotiations in Washington next week, which Hezbollah vehemently opposes.

World

WHO Chief Tells Tenerife People that Risk from Hantavirus-hit Ship 'Low'

Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)
Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)
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WHO Chief Tells Tenerife People that Risk from Hantavirus-hit Ship 'Low'

Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)
Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain’s port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

The WHO chief told the people of Tenerife Saturday that the risk to them from an arriving cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak was "low".

"I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid," World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in an open letter to the people of the Spanish island where the MV Hondius was expected to arrive Sunday.

"The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low."

The Dutch-flagged cruise ship was expected to reach waters off Tenerife at dawn, with Tedros also due on the archipelago to help coordinate the evacuation of around 150 people on board, The AP news reported.

Three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.

The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.

It has also sparked fears among people of the Canary Islands, with regional authorities having refused to allow the vessel to dock, deciding it will remain offshore while passengers are screened and evacuated.

- 'Serious' -

In his open letter, Tedros hailed the people of Tenerife for their solidarity and said he had thanked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez personally for Spain agreeing to take on its "moral duty" and receive the ship.

"I know you are worried," Tedros wrote in his open letter.

"I know that when you hear the word 'outbreak' and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment," he said.

Tedros acknowledged that the Andes strain of hantavirus "is serious".

"Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families," he said, stressing though that "the risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low".

"This is the WHO's assessment, and we do not make it lightly."

An expert with the United Nations health agency was on board and had determined that currently "there are no symptomatic passengers", Tedros said.

He also highlighted that "medical supplies are in place" and stressed that Spanish authorities had prepared a "careful, step-by-step plan" for the evacuation.

According to that plan, he said, "passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries".

"You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them."

- Deemed 'nearest port' -

The WHO chief insisted the request for Spain to receive the ship "was not made arbitrarily", pointing out that under International Health Regulations, "the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board".

"Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home," he said.

Tedros said he was travelling to Tenerife to observe the evacuation operation personally, to "stand alongside" health workers and port staff, and to "pay my respects" to the island and its response.

"The WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way," he said.