Briefing on the environmental damage caused by the Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

Attacks on nuclear facilities have become one of the components of Russian aggression, creating unprecedented threats to global radiation safety.

Since the large-scale war began, a new task has emerged before Ukraine - to record the damage caused by the aggressor country. This requires systematic effort involving many state authorities. The overall environmental damage assessment already exceeds UAH 1.9 trillion or over USD 52 billion. This was stated by Ruslan Strilets, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, in an interview with ArmyInform media outlet.

On 21-23 April, rallies were held around the world as part of the #StopEcocideUkraine campaign dedicated to International Earth Day. People on all continents joined hands and formed a living chain to draw the world's attention to the environmental crimes committed by Russia in its aggressive war against Ukraine.

45 cities in 22 countries, as well as scientists at the Vernadsky Station in Antarctica, participated in rallies. Participants called for the cessation of Russian ecocide in Ukraine and the salvation of the world from nuclear threat.

Nuclear and radiation safety threats

On the day of the 37th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear accident, Minister Ruslan Strilets visited the Exclusion Zone on a working trip. The Minister expressed his respect and gratitude to all those who risked their own lives and health to save humanity from the nuclear danger in 1986, as well as to those who heroically defended the Exclusion Zone from the Russian invasion in 2022.

According to the Minister, Ukraine has elaborated a separate Recovery Plan for the Exclusion Zone, which includes 10 directions and 40 projects. The funding for these projects in 2023 is EUR 15 million.

As stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, has been under occupation for over a year and is still used by the aggressor as a military base. Militarization of the ZNPP, attempts to illegally appropriate the plant and interference in the technological process, attacks and shelling of the plant by Russian invaders caused damage to the infrastructure and disrupted its proper functioning. The occupiers’ resort to repressions and cruel treatment of the Ukrainian staff of the plant, facts of kidnapping and torture are recorded.

The crimes committed by Russia at Ukrainian peaceful nuclear facilities and against the personnel of these facilities cannot and should not remain unpunished. Ukraine counts on increasing international pressure with the aim of liberating the occupied ZNPP as soon as possible and restoring Ukraine's control over all peaceful nuclear facilities and material within the internationally recognized borders of our state.

Ukraine calls on the international community to take decisive steps aimed at ensuring political, economic and legal consequences for the Russian Federation, including the expansion of sanctions against the Russian nuclear energy sector, as well as for the direct involvement of the state concern "Rosatom" in crimes at the ZNPP.

Recent attacks on infrastructure and industrial sites

On April 21, Russian terrorists launched attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles:

• in the Poltava region, causing destruction to civilian infrastructure;
• on a critical infrastructure facility in the Vinnytsia region, causing a fire.

On April 22, due to a rocket attack in the Novobavarskyi district of Kharkiv, a fire broke out in a civilian infrastructure facility. Strikes were also recorded in the Slobidskyi and Osnovianskyi districts of the city.On April 24, the occupiers fired two rockets at Kramatorsk, damaging 43 private houses, a mobile clinic, an educational institution, and a religious building.On April 25, the Russians destroyed the building of the local history museum in Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, killing 2 museum employees.On April 26, the Russians launched rocket attacks on Druzhkivka and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, destroying residential and administrative buildings.Google Earth and Google Maps have updated satellite imagery of the destroyed city of Mariupol, showing the aftermath of the Russian attacks. The last time the map of Mariupol was updated was before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation (in June 2021). The new images show destroyed buildings in the city center, including the Drama Theater, which was bombed by the Russians, killing hundreds of civilians who had taken refuge there. The images also allow to assess the colossal scale of destruction of the Azovstal metallurgical plant.

Pollution caused directly by hostilities

According to the International Coordination Center for Humanitarian Demining of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, from February 24, 2022 to April 26, 2023, 350,396 explosive objects, including 2,216 aircraft bombs, were neutralized in Ukraine. An area of 833.3 square kilometers was surveyed for explosives. There are still 174,000 square kilometers of potentially dangerous areas remaining, which is 30% of the country's total area.

Nearly the entire territory of the Holy Mountains National Park in the Donetsk region is currently unsafe, with only 50 hectares of the 44,000 hectares of forest being cleared of mines, said its Acting Director Serhiy Pryimachuk in an interview with Suspilne.

Visiting forests is currently deadly dangerous, as battles had been taking place in the Sviatohirsk community for several months. There are particularly high concentrations of scattered "petal" mines in the area of Bohorodychne, the entire bank of the Siverskyi Donets River in the area of Sviatohirsk, Tetianivka, Yarova, and beyond, outside the national park. Recently, a park inspector was blown up by a "petal" mine during his inspection. The park already has a demining plan approved by the State Emergency Service.

Damage to natural reserves and protected ecosystems

Russian occupiers have taken control of nature reserves and national parks located on the left bank of the Kherson region. They have reissued documents under Russian regulatory acts, appointed their own "managers," and changed the status of facilities. The heads of three Kherson nature conservation facilities (Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve and the national parks of Dzharylgach and Lower Dnipro) spoke about the current situation in the occupied facilities in an interview with Suspilne.

The quality of life for people and the suitability of territories for existence depend on the preservation of ecosystem functions and their ability to provide ecosystem services. Hostilities have a significant destructive impact on nature. They not only cause the death of living organisms but also lead to the destruction of natural ecosystems. This results in ecosystems losing the ability to support the life of biological species, including humans.

The violation of ecosystem services caused by the Russian invasion particularly affected the residents of the steppe zone of Ukraine, which is located in the combat zone. The destruction of forest belts leads to massive wind erosion and the devastation of entire regions. The loss of forests in the south and east of Ukraine will lead to more arid, windy conditions, as well as significantly higher temperatures in summer and much lower temperatures in winter. In the current climate, it is likely impossible to restore these destroyed forests. The loss of ecosystem services will result in the deterioration of the quality of life, increased expenses for comfort, healthcare, and higher food prices.

Even more significant loss of ecosystem services is observed in soil erosion caused by hundreds of thousands of explosions, the construction of defense facilities, and the military vehicles’ movements. It is also worth noting the loss of such ecosystem services as cultural and social. More information on the impact of war on ecosystem services can be found in the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group article.

Damage to freshwater resources

In Kryviy Rih, environmental activists have studied the water quality of the Ingulets River 6 months after the Russian missile strike on the Karachunivske Reservoir Dam. Water samples were collected in March 2023 at three points and analyzed using express systems.

The missile strike in September 2022 caused a significant water leak from the Karachunivske Reservoir, which flooded about 200 houses. Additionally, fish died in the Ingulets River, and the river turned red.

The study showed that the missile strike and the subsequent restoration work on the Karachunivske Reservoir Dam did not have a long-term effect on the water quality of the Ingulets River within the Kryviy Rih floodplain. Despite significant technogenic and social consequences, the missile strike and subsequent restoration work had a limited and non-catastrophic effect on the river ecosystem.

Currently, the water in the river has moderate quality due to increased levels of dissolved salts, water hardness compounds, nitrate, and nitrite ions, which may be a result of human impact.

Black and Azov Seas

During the "Protect the Dolphins - Save the Black Sea" meeting, held on the eve of Earth Day, discussions were held on the conservation and restoration of the population of Black Sea dolphins during the war.

According to Eduard Arustamyan, the Director of the Department of Nature Reserve Fund and Biodiversity of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ukraine is losing biodiversity due to the military actions of Russian units at sea. Entire habitats and particularly valuable areas where various species of animals and birds reside are being destroyed.

As a result of the use of sonars by Russian ships and submarines, dolphins enter the zone of operation of navigational devices, which disables their navigation and echolocation organs. Disoriented, "blind", under stress, they rapidly lose immunity and become a target for autonomous infection with pathogens. The bodies of dolphins that die as a result of shell and mine explosions are found throughout the Ukrainian coastline and in other Black Sea countries.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection plans to expand the protected areas of the Tuzla Estuaries National Nature Park and create a rehabilitation center for dolphins that have suffered from the barbaric actions of Russian occupiers.

During the meeting, the book "War - the Apogee of the Ecocide of Black Sea Cetaceans" by Doctor of Biological Sciences Ivan Rusev was presented.

https://us10.campaign-archive.com/?u=284d761860729672556585dea&id=6a492552d4

‍