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

Ukraine is ensuring international support to counter the ecocide committed by Russian aggressors. The terrorist country continues its nuclear blackmail of the whole world with threats to blow up the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The estimated environmental damage caused by the blowing up of the Kakhovka dam by Russians amounts to approximately UAH 146 billion (EUR 3.7 bln). Ruslan Strilets, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, shared this information on June 29 during the first meeting of the International High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War.

The meeting was attended by former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala, President of Ireland in 1990-1997 Mary Robinson, environmental activist Greta Thunberg. The meeting was also attended in an online format by the EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius, CEO of the European Climate Foundation Laurence Tubiana, and member of the Ecocide Alliance Simon Holmström.

The newly established group will provide support to the Ukrainian government in assessing the environmental damage caused by the war, holding Russia accountable, and planning the country's green restoration.

"The government is taking unprecedented steps today to assist those who have suffered losses due to the war. However, nature remains a silent victim of this war, unable to report its destroyed home to the Diya system. Therefore, we must do everything possible to make Russia pay for ecocide," - stated Ruslan Strilets.

According to Ukraine's Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, Ukraine is the first country to pursue environmental war crimes and ecocide on such a scale. Over 200 war crimes against the environment are currently under investigation, along with 15 cases that qualify as ecocide under the Ukrainian Criminal Code. Such precedents are virtually non-existent in the international criminal justice system.

Nuclear and radiation safety threats

On July 4, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian military personnel had placed objects resembling explosives on the roofs of several units at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, possibly to simulate “a Ukrainian attack” on the plant.

"The world sees - can't but see - that the only source of danger to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Russia and no one else. Unfortunately, there was no timely and large-scale response to the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. And this may incite the Kremlin to commit new evil. It is the responsibility of everyone in the world to stop it, no one can stand aside, as radiation affects everyone," - the President emphasized.

The occupiers continue to block transferring of Power Unit #5 of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant into a "cold shutdown", which is optimal considering the drainage of the Kakhovka water reservoir as a source of water supply for the plant. Such blocking of orders by the Ukrainian state regulator is a gross violation of the law.

On July 4, the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lost power SUPPLY from its main external power transmission line with a voltage of 750 kV. As a result, the plant had to switch to the only available backup line of 330 kV, which was repaired and reconnected to the station on July 1. Prior to the full-scale Russian invasion, the Zaporizhzhia NPP had 6 power lines. Since February 24, 2022, the Zaporizhzhia NPP has experienced 7 blackouts, which forced the use of diesel generators and posed a threat of nuclear catastrophe each time.

Ukraine is doing everything possible to ensure the security of the occupied nuclear power plant but emphasizes that the only way to prevent a nuclear incident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP is through its complete demilitarization, de-occupation, and the restoration of Ukrainian control over the plant.

Recent attacks on infrastructure and industrial sites

On June 24, Russian forces launched nighttime attacks on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and other cities in Ukraine. Debris from a Russian missile hit a high-rise residential building in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv, causing a fire. 5 civilians died.

On June 25, Russia attacked the suburbs of Zaporizhzhia. The strikes hit open areas and one of the local enterprises.

On June 26, the Russians shelled the Kherson region with banned incendiary munitions. The shelling caused fires in residential buildings and damaged water and gas pipelines, as well as critical infrastructure.

On June 27, Russians:

• launched a missile strike on Kremenchuk, resulting in the destruction and damage of buildings due to the explosive wave.
• carried out two missile strikes on Kramatorsk, including a restaurant in the city center, resulting in the death of 13 civilians, including 3 children.

On June 29, the Russian army shelled residential areas in Kherson, including a humanitarian aid distribution point, resulting in the death of 2 people.On July 2, three private houses in two districts of the Kyiv region were damaged due to the falling debris from Russian drones.On July 3, Russian occupiers targeted Sumy, damaging an administrative building and two residential buildings. 21 civilians were injured, and 3 people died.On July 4, the Russian army shelled Kherson, damaging residential buildings and causing the death of two civilians.On July 5, the Russians shelled Pervomaiskyi in the Kharkiv region, damaging 8 multi-story residential buildings and injuring 43 people, including 12 children.Due to the war, Ukrainian farmers have not only lost land and harvests but also the ability to export their products and generate income. The combination of these factors has led to catastrophic consequences. Recent data from the State Statistics Service regarding Ukraine’s agro-industrial complex productivity in 2022 illustrates this. Grain production has decreased by nearly 40%, vegetables - by 25%, and fruits - by 10%.Before the war, Ukraine's food exports fed 400 million people worldwide. The actions of Russian occupiers have exacerbated the global food crisis.

Pollution caused directly by hostilities

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, from February 24, 2022, to 5 July, 2023, 405,758 explosive objects were neutralized on the territory of Ukraine. An area of 906.7 square kilometers has been surveyed.

As of the end of May 2023, the amount of direct damage to Ukraine’s housing stock as a result of a full-scale war is more than $54 billion. This figure represents over a third of the total direct damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure and assets, according to data calculated by the KSE Institute (an analytical unit of the Kyiv School of Economics) project Russia Will Pay.

According to the latest data, a total of 18,600 apartment buildings were affected: 13.2 thousand were damaged and 5.4 thousand were completely destroyed. Nearly 59,000 private homes have been destroyed. In addition, 345 dormitories were damaged.

The regions most affected by housing damage include Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv regions. More than 18,000 houses were completely destroyed in the Donetsk region (over 40%), 6,700 in the Kyiv region, and more than 2,500 in the Luhansk region.

Among the cities, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sievierodonetsk, Rubizhne, Bakhmut, Marinka, Lysychansk, Popasna, Izyum, and Volnovakha have the highest number of destroyed and damaged residential buildings. For example, according to preliminary estimates, 90% of the housing stock in Sievierodonetsk was damaged, while cities such as Bakhmut and Maryinka have almost no undamaged buildings.

The destruction of buildings and settlements leads to environmental pollution from construction waste and asbestos. The consequences of such pollution for the environment will be felt for years to come.

Damage to natural reserves and protected ecosystems

Restoring all the ecosystems damaged by the Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station could take decades, according to Minister Ruslan Strilets, who announced the national telethon.

“Approximately 80,000 hectares of nature reserves were flooded as a result of the terrorist attack. The gradual and lengthy restoration of the Lower Dnipro, Great Meadow, and Kamianska Sich national parks is expected. We may permanently lose endemic species of plants and animals, including the zander fish, 70% of the habitat of Nordmann's birch mouse, up to 50% of the range of the sandy blind mole-rat and the thick-tailed three-toed jerboa," - commented Ruslan Strilets.

A recently published report by the international NGO PAX looks into the key issues stemming from the blowing up of the Kakhovka dam by Russians and maps the most acute environmental risks.

There are 3 main national nature parks (NNP) in the affected areas below the Kakhovka dam: “Lower Dnipro”, “Oleshky Sands”, and “Ivory Coast of Sviatoslav”. Despite that the floodwaters have gradually retreated from the 9th of June onward; many ecosystems of these nature parks are very likely lost forever due to the flood’s damage to living organisms and vegetation. The washout from the flooding, including contaminated waters and debris, will likely also affect the marine and coastal environment around the Kinburn Spit NNP in the Black Sea, a protected area in the southern Mykolaiv region that hosts a wide range of unique species of birds and fish and a rich ecosystem.

The affected area upstream contains 2 national nature parks - “Great Meadow” (16 755 hectares) and “Kamianska Sich” (12 261 hectares). It is predicted that the water-covered area of these parks will be reduced to almost half of their current size due to the emptying of the Kakhovka Reservoir and shallowing of the Dnipro River.

Damage to freshwater resources

Due to the blowing up of the Kakhovka Dam, Ukraine has estimatedly lost over 10 cubic kilometers of its most valuable resource - freshwater. The reservoir area has decreased by approximately 80%. Once a massive water reservoir that provided drinking water to over 1 million Ukrainians, it has been destroyed by the Russians.

As of June 27, the water level in the Dnipro River near Kherson has decreased to 20 cm. This is 11 cm lower than the level before the blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station.

Monitoring and observation of water quality changes in southern Ukraine are ongoing. As of June 26, excess concentrations were detected in water samples from the Dnipro River, taken outside the city of Kherson in the area of the Antonivsky Railway Bridge, the fairway, and the Inhulets River in the village of Darivka. Specifically:

Dnipro River:

• Suspended solids exceeded the permissible concentration by 1.28 times.
• Total iron content exceeded by 2.4 times.
• Dissolved oxygen content was 5.3 mg/dm3, above the minimum norm of 4.00 mg/dm3.

Inhulets River:

• Suspended solids exceeded the permissible concentration by 1.68 times.
• Total iron content exceeded by 2.3 times.
• Chloride content exceeded by 1.16 times.
• Sulfate content exceeded by 2.4 times.
• Dissolved oxygen content was 2.5 mg/dm3, below the minimum norm of 4.00 mg/dm3.

In addition, slight deviations in the dissolved oxygen content were recorded in water samples taken within the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Black and Azov Seas

According to measurements of water samples from the Black Sea taken on June 20-21, a decrease in salinity below the permissible concentration was recorded:

• in the area of Nova Dofinivka village, salinity was 1.7-1.3 times lower.
• at Langeron Beach in Odessa, salinity was 1.93-1.87 times lower.
• at the 16th Station of Great Fontan Beach in Odessa, salinity was 2.0-1.84 times lower.

According to the Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology, there was a rapid increase in water pollution levels, including in the Black Sea, after the blowing up of the Kakhovka dam. The initial pollution of the Dnipro River occurred within a few hours, reaching the Odesa coast by June 8, 2023. Satellite data shows that contaminated river waters extended to the Danube River during the first week after the terrorist attack, covering an area of over 7,300 km2 of the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea.

As a result of the large influx of nutrients into the sea, water blooms have been observed near the Odessa coast since June 14.

A satellite image of chlorophyll on June 24, 2023, indicates intense seawater blooms, which currently extend over a significant area of the western region of the Black Sea. The image shows higher concentrations of chlorophyll, indicating the presence of a large number of phytoplankton, stretching from the Ukrainian coast to the territorial waters of Romania, Bulgaria, and partially Turkey.

This widespread bloom confirms that the polluted waters resulting from the dam's destruction have an impact on a large part of the Black Sea. The impact of this bloom on the marine ecosystem requires further research, including an assessment of its effects on biodiversity and the long-term effects on the recovery of the marine ecosystem after the catastrophe.

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