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

The war has caused damage to 20% of Ukraine's protected natural areas, with millions of animals already killed and 80 species facing the threat of extinction. 10 national parks, 8 reserves, and 2 biosphere reserves are currently occupied by Russians. In some of these areas, the invaders allow hunting of protected animals.

As part of the international #StopEcocideUkraine campaign launched by UAnimals activists, stars representing Ukrainian animals on the brink of extinction due to Russian aggression have temporarily appeared on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is a way to remind the world that the war waged by Russia against Ukraine could lead to the permanent loss of species such as the steppe eagle, brown bear, Eurasian lynx, black stork, and spotted eagle-owl. Mentions of these animals have been placed alongside stars of famous actors and performers such as Tom Cruise, Frank Sinatra, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources has prepared a report assessing the current progress in implementing European integration reforms in the environmental protection field. The Ministry is actively working on analyzing national nature conservation legislation for compliance with EU law, as this direction has been identified as the most priority at the government level in light of Ukraine's candidacy for EU membership.

Nuclear and radiation safety threats

As reported by Energoatom, the situation at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly tense: once again, the Russian invaders have kidnapped workers from the plant. Checks and searches for "unreliable" individuals are intensifying, and even cooperation with the occupiers does not protect against detention or interrogations.

In the city of Energodar, the occupiers are kidnapping employees of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for "preventive talks" in torture chambers in order to force them to obtain Russian passports. By creating a pseudo-trade union at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the invaders are forcibly pushing Ukrainian personnel to join this fake structure.

Russians are also installing additional fences to block access roads to the nuclear power plant. This effectively expands the closed perimeter around the plant, as if preparing it for defense. In other words, Russian terrorists are so afraid that they do not hesitate to engage in illegal construction on the territory of a nuclear facility.

Recent attacks on infrastructure and industrial sites

On April 7, as a result of the massive shelling of Ochakiv in the Mykolaiv region and the waters of the Ochakiv community, residential buildings, shops, and civilian infrastructure were damaged.

On April 8:

• Russian forces launched two missile strikes on Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region;
• 2 civilians were killed as a result of the Russian shelling in Dvorichna, Kharkiv region.

On April 9:

• invaders carried out a missile strike on the city of Zaporizhzhia. As a result, a residential building was partially destroyed, and a fire broke out in an area of 100 square meters. Two residents, including an 11-year-old girl, were killed.
• Russians conducted airstrikes with guided bombs in the Kherson region, causing significant damage to an educational facility and destroying an elevator. After the attacks, a large-scale fire broke out.

On April 10:

• Russians attacked Berislav in the Kherson region from airplanes, targeting an industrial facility, which suffered serious damage.
• in the area of the village of Podoly in the Kupyansk district of the Kharkiv region, a forest fire broke out as a result of attacks from Grad multiple rocket launcher systems.

On April 11, the Russian army launched 35 strikes with heavy artillery and aviation on the Kherson region, targeting residential areas, a church, power transmission lines, the port area in the city of Kherson, and enterprises in the region.On April 12, Russian artillery shells damaged 13 private houses, two farm buildings, and a car in the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region.According to preliminary assessments by the UN, during the 2022-2023 heating season, Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been subjected to more than 1500 attacks by Russian missiles and drones. Over a hundred missiles have hit large energy facilities. The losses to Ukraine's energy infrastructure due to military actions exceeded 10 billion dollars by the end of December 2022.It is reported that Ukraine's generating capacity decreased by 61.4% in 2022, from 36 GW to 13.9 GW, including due to losses from Russian missile and drone attacks. Approximately 10 GW of installed capacity remains in areas under Russian occupation or control, including the 6GW Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.Massive fires at infrastructure and industrial facilities lead to air pollution with particularly dangerous substances. Pollutants can be carried by winds over long distances.

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 12, 2023, 343,981 explosive objects, including 2,200 aircraft bombs, were neutralized in Ukraine. An area of 819.2 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.

The latest report from the international NGO PAX highlights that Russian attacks on fertilizer production plants, storage silos, and large-scale farms have caused verified damage to at least 61 of these major facilities in Ukraine. The damage and destruction of these agrochemical facilities pose acute environmental risks, which can have long-term impacts on human health.

The intense and widespread use of explosive weapons has already resulted in damaged equipment, critical infrastructure and disrupted logistics; destroyed and contaminated farming fields and rural households; and displaced and killed civilian farmers. All this has combined to produce a significant decrease in agricultural production.

The findings of this research show how direct attacks against agro-industrial facilities pose acute and long-term health and environmental impacts from toxic and hazardous substances, including the risk of spreading airborne pathogens and wider consequences for global food security.

Map of recorded Russian attacks on agro-industrial enterprises in Ukraine

Satellite image of the aftermath of a Russian attack on an ammonium nitrate warehouse in the Kharkiv region in May 2022

Damage to natural reserves and protected ecosystems

The media reports indicate that the population of wild animals in the Dnipropetrovsk region is rapidly increasing in the forests, where they seek refuge from Russian shelling. In some areas, the number of ungulates has increased by one third. For the first time in many years, noble deer have been spotted by foresters in the region. Predators and birds are also being observed more frequently. Experts explain that animals are fleeing to the Dnipropetrovsk region from neighboring territories where active fighting is taking place.

Employees of the Kamianska Sich National Nature Park, environmental activists, and scientists have conducted field trips to the park to assess the impact of military activities on the park's ecosystems, record damages, and conduct field research in the steppes.

Kamianska Sich is a valuable natural and historical area. The Russian occupation of the nature park’s territory began on March 8, 2022, and the park was liberated on November 11, but parts of its territory are still in the hostilities zone, with the front line passing through the water area.

Park employees are engaged in extremely challenging work: together with specialists from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the State Emergency Service, they conduct demining and clearing of the territory from explosive objects, as well as remnants of burned-out equipment and extensive litter left by the occupiers. The situation is further complicated by repeated remote mining by Russians. However, the work does not stop, as over time, the mines become less visible, and their neutralization requires more effort. Russian shelling of the park's territory and surrounding lands continues.

As a result of the shelling, numerous fires have also occurred, significantly destroying the steppe vegetation. Not only terrestrial but also aquatic ecosystems, including the Dnipro River and its tributaries, have been affected. During the fighting, shells hit the river, some of which explode, destroying hydrobionts and contaminating the water with chemical substances that are formed as a result of the explosion and are present in the explosive mixture. Some shells do not explode and remain on the riverbed, posing a risk of detonation and contamination of the environment for decades.

The employees of the Lyman Forestry have planted over 9,000 seedlings in the demined forests in the Donetsk region. They have already planted 3 hectares of land where the forest was destroyed due to hostilities. This work became possible thanks to the planting material grown by colleagues from the Lviv tree nursery from seeds collected by foresters of the Lyman Forestry. With the onset of Russian aggression, foresters from Lyman lost the capacity to grow seedlings in their own tree nursery. Therefore, the equipment was evacuated from the combat zone, and currently, some of the production facilities are located in the Lviv tree nursery.

Currently, demining of forests around the city of Lyman is being carried out by representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service, and the State Forest Protection. As a result of the armed aggression by Russia, more than 27,000 hectares of forest lands of the Lyman Forestry were contaminated with explosive objects, posing a threat to the city residents and complicating the work of foresters. Since the liberation, 53 hectares of forest have been cleared from mines. The "Forests of Ukraine" state company reminds that visiting forests is prohibited until demining works are completed.

Damage to freshwater resources

Wetlands are highly effective in combating climate change, crucial for preserving biodiversity, and they also protect cities and villages from floods and mitigate wildfires.

The Olmansk Wetlands, located on the border between Ukraine and Belarus, are internationally recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The territory is important not only for biodiversity conservation but also for addressing the climate crisis.

Since 2015, a network of roads for heavy vehicles, including military vehicles, has been constructed in the Belarusian part of the Olmansk Wetlands, which is several times larger than the Ukrainian part. These roads themselves damage the wetlands as they disrupt the hydrological regime. The roads are constructed on embankments from the sand extracted from quarries located within the protected area.

Like any natural ecosystem, the Olmansk Wetlands do not recognize national borders. Therefore, problems on the Belarusian side of the border will impact the Ukrainian part of the wetlands as well. More details on how wetlands help defend Ukraine's borders and the challenges of their conservation can be found in the article by the Ukrainian Pravda.

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