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EXPLAINER: Can Ukraine pay for war without wrecking economy?

FILE - A view of buildings of local resort destroyed following recent Russian missile attacks in Odesa region, Ukraine, Aug. 18, 2022. Ukraine has won victories on the battlefield against Russia but faces a looming challenge on the economic front. The government has been relying on the central bank to print money to cover its huge deficits caused by the war. (AP Photo/Nina Lyashonok, File) FILE - A firefighter looks at a part of a wall falling from the residential building that was heavily damaged after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Oct. 9, 2022. Ukraine has won victories on the battlefield against Russia but faces a looming challenge on the economic front. The government has been relying on the central bank to print money to cover its huge deficits caused by the war. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File) FILE - General view of the damaged Antonivsky Bridge, destroyed by Russian troops in earlier November, after Kremlin's forces withdrew from the southern city, in Kherson, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2022. Ukraine has won victories on the battlefield against Russia but faces a looming challenge on the economic front. The government has been relying on the central bank to print money to cover its huge deficits caused by the war. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) FILE - A woman tries to enter a bank that is closed due to the war against Russia, near Maidan Square, in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 18, 2022. Even as Ukraine celebrates recent battlefield victories, its government faces a looming challenge on the financial front: how to pay the enormous cost of the war effort without triggering out-of-control price spikes for ordinary people or piling up debt that could hamper postwar reconstruction. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File) FILE - Local residents receive bread in the recently recaptured village of Yampil, Ukraine, Nov. 9, 2022. Even as Ukraine celebrates recent battlefield victories, its government faces a looming challenge on the financial front: how to pay the enormous cost of the war effort without triggering out-of-control price spikes for ordinary people or piling up debt that could hamper postwar reconstruction. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko, File) FILE - Two Ukrainian defence forces members stand next to a sign reading "Kherson region" in the outskirts of Kherson, southern Ukraine, Nov. 14, 2022. Even as Ukraine celebrates recent battlefield victories, its government faces a looming challenge on the financial front: how to pay the enormous cost of the war effort without triggering out-of-control price spikes for ordinary people or piling up debt that could hamper postwar reconstruction. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) FILE - Residents queue to fill containers with drinking water in Kherson, southern Ukraine, Nov. 24, 2022. Even as Ukraine celebrates recent battlefield victories, its government faces a looming challenge on the financial front: how to pay the enormous cost of the war effort without triggering out-of-control price spikes for ordinary people or piling up debt that could hamper postwar reconstruction. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) FILE - Residents queue at a bank branch in Kherson, southern Ukraine, Nov. 21, 2022. Even as Ukraine celebrates recent battlefield victories, its government faces a looming challenge on the financial front: how to pay the enormous cost of the war effort without triggering out-of-control price spikes for ordinary people or piling up debt that could hamper postwar reconstruction. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center, is flanked by Poland's President Andrzej Duda, left, president at the main event of the "Stand Up for Ukraine" global campaign for pledging funds for Ukraine and its refugees, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends via video link, at the Palace on the Water, in Warsaw, Poland, April 9, 2022. Ukraine has won victories on the battlefield against Russia but faces a looming challenge on the economic front. So far, the U.S. has been the leading donor, giving $15.2 billion in financial assistance and $52 billion in overall aid, including humanitarian and military assistance, through Oct. 3, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. EU institutions and member countries have committed $29.2 billion. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File) FILE - In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office and posted on Facebook, April 25, 2022, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, third from left, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, fourth from left, attend their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fourth from right, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Even as Ukraine celebrates recent battlefield victories, its government faces a looming challenge on the financial front: how to pay the enormous cost of the war effort without triggering out-of-control price spikes for ordinary people or piling up debt that could hamper postwar reconstruction. So far, the U.S. has been the leading donor, giving $15.2 billion in financial assistance and $52 billion in overall aid, including humanitarian and military assistance, through Oct. 3, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP, File)