New development: Accounting for human-made disasters—comparative analysis of the support to Ukraine in times of war

IMPACT: The article provides interesting insights and highlights tensions in the multiple international responses to supporting Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February 2022. Humanitarian aid and donations were launched almost instantly, while military support varied from country to country. The pattern of immediate reactions enables the visualization of global economic and financial architecture and suggests how governments and international institutions might better address future crises. The article will be of value to practitioners by critically assessing and re-evaluating support packages in addressing human-made disasters and subsequent humanitarian crises.

ABSTRACT On 24 February 2022, the Russian army attacked several Ukrainian cities and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This disastrous decision by the Russian government caused the outbreak of war and started a domino effect of subsequent crises on a global scale. The authors initiate a debate on accounting to mitigate a human-made disaster, as well as mapping and analysing the multiple responses to the invasion, based not only on humanitarian aid but also on military and other types of support. Only a few accounting studies have to date explored human-made disasters related to socio-technical and warfare shocks. Importantly, this article begins to fill this gap and presents a future research agenda.