As bombing and shelling ripped through Ukraine’s towns and cities in the first week of the invasion, the Ukrainian government still made a scheduled interest payment to its private lenders on time. The lenders — mostly international finance institutions, banks, and hedge funds — are all queuing up to collect their debts, with no sign of respite.
The people of Ukraine are fighting for their survival while dealing with huge humanitarian needs, mass displacement, and the horrific siege conditions in Mariupol. And yet they are seeing urgently needed resources flow out of the country to foreign creditors.
They will cancel the debt, in return for farmland and other resources (conveniently). But, it certainly is an interesting and fair point.