The total environmental damage as a result of Russian aggression as of October 20, 2023 is more than UAH 2 trillion or EUR 55.6 billion.
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Half of these losses were due to air pollution from forest fires, missile attacks and petroleum fires. Land pollution was estimated at more than UAH 980 billion, and water pollution at UAH 60 billion. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmigal stated this while speaking at the international forum “United for Justice. United for Nature.”
According to Shmygal, the Russian terrorist attack at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was the largest act of ecocide in the last 70 years. According to the Ministry of Environment, the total damage from this terrorist attack alone exceeds 146 billion UAH or 3.8 billion euros.
As a result of the destruction of the dam, the irrigation systems of farmland, on which about 2 million tons of grain were grown per year, were left without water. This represents 70% of grain exported by Ukraine to Africa in 2022.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister added that at the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, the International Register of War Losses was introduced, which also contains an environmental component. This is the first element of the compensation mechanism, consisting of three components – a register of losses, a commission for reviewing applications and a compensation fund.
Szmigal emphasized that compensation for environmental damage should come from confiscated Russian assets.
Let us recall that in January, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov stated that since February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation has caused $35.3 billion in damage to the Ukrainian environment, and millions of hectares of protected areas are under threat.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.