Nuclear catastrophe is only one of the environmental disasters that may be unleashed by war in a heavily industrialized country. If destroyed, hundreds of chemical, metallurgical and mining sites, hydropower plants, oil depots and refineries, nuclear energy plants and waste dumps, industrial ports, solid and liquid waste management infrastructure, can cause lasting damage to Ukrainian air, soil, water, biodiversity and air. Some of the facilities have already been attacked in all regions of Ukraine. Ukraine’s environmental governance, such as monitoring, maintaining and launching nature conservation and restoration projects, will be disrupted, because they may not be a priority.
Destruction of people’s habitats and collapse of environmental governance will further contribute to serious issues around public health, solid waste management and controls of chemical and industrial toxics, in particular those in populated areas. Russian attacks on munitions depots have already led to the dispersal of military-origin heavy metals and toxic hazardous energetic materials, posing additional human health and environmental risks.
The long-term health and environmental risks of military destruction are site-specific and hard to evaluate without thorough post-conflict field research. This is why early identification of risks and tracking of environmental incidents is crucial. Ukrainian NGOs have started monitoring environmental damage in Crimea and ORDLO since 2014, reporting water pollution, water shortage and marine pollution in Crimea, as well as massive accumulation of poorly managed toxic waste in the Donbas. The Ministry of Environmental Protection continued a wide national online initiative (SaveEcoBot) to register environmental crimes in Ukraine.
Speakers:
- Iryna Stavchuk, Deputy Minister for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine
- Oleksii Vasyliuk, Biologist, Head of Ukraine Nature Conservation Group
- Natalia Gozak, Executive Director, Ecoaction
- Andriy Andrusevych, Senior Policy Expert, Society & Environment
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ukrainian Catholic University’s analytical center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022. If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/
