MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. Ukraine’s population fell to 28.5 million as of mid-2026, the News.Live TV channel reported, citing Ella Libanova, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Demography and Social Research.

"A couple of days ago, we completed a population estimate for the middle of the year. The figure stands at 28.5 million. We have recently lost half a million people who left the country," she said.

Meanwhile, other experts have offered even lower estimates. Economist Alexey Kushch claimed that the country’s population was approaching 20 million. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov cited the same figure in an interview with TASS.