Briefing on the environmental damage caused by the Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (17 December - 30 December, 2024)

On 17 December 2024, a round table discussion ‘Implementation of ecosystem services in Ukraine: challenges and prospects’ was held. The participants discussed the draft Strategy for the Formation and Implementation of State Policy in the Field of Ecosystem Services Management.

A Welcome speech at the event was made by Svitlana Grynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

‘For 10 years now, our country has been suffering from Russian armed aggression, which has caused catastrophic losses, both human and natural. The environment, like our people, has become a victim of aggression. At the same time, nature is our ally in the fight for independence and security. Ecosystem services are a key element of the European Union's environmental and climate policy. Their integration into management decisions will help harmonise Ukrainian legislation with European standards,' said Svitlana Grynchuk.

The discussion of the draft Strategy took place in a broad expert community (about 170 people), presented by scientists from leading scientific institutions and organisations, representatives of universities, NGOs, businesses, protected areas organisations, environmental protection units of the RMA, and relevant ministries and agencies.

The event was moderated by the Head of the National League of Ukrainian Nature Reserves Tetiana Tymochko. She noted that biological and landscape diversity should be assessed, preserved and restored.

On 18 December 2024, a conference in support of Ukraine, organised by IMPEL Network, took place in Prague.

The conference was attended by representatives of the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine.

During the event, they described the current state and conditions of the state supervision and control authority in martial law and informed the foreign participants of the conference about the consequences of military aggression against the environment, in particular, about the damage and scale of Russia's environmental crimes.

The State Environmental Inspectorate is a member of the IMPEL Network and is in fact the only environmental control authority in Ukraine that already has experience of working under military aggression. The participants of the Conference expressed their solidarity and support for the Ukrainian people and were interested in practical cases of work of state inspectors under martial law.

The Conference analysed the conclusions and proposals of IMPEL Network experts based on the results of the IRI for Ukraine (IMPEL Review Initiatives), which was held earlier in August 2024 to analyse the proposed strategies for reforming the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine. Following the Conference, the participants decided to establish a Coordination Support Group for Ukraine (CSGU) within the IMPEL Network.

On 20 December 2024, Minister Svitlana Grynchuk helda coordination meeting with the head of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Military Administration Ivan Fedorov, representatives of the State Water Agency, State Forestry Agency, State Inspectorate of Ukraine, directors of the Velykyi Luh and Priazovia National Parks, city and regional specialised departments and municipal institutions. The goal was to ‘synchronise watches’ and outline the next steps.

Zaporizhzhya Oblast is one of the regions that are acutely affected by the consequences of the Russians' explosion of the Kakhovka HPP dam. Water supply has become one of the key issues. 70% of the occupied territories of the region received water from the Kakhovka reservoir. Currently, cities such as Berdiansk, Prymorsk, Pryazovske and other settlements are supplied with water from wells and rivers, which cannot fully remedy the situation.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, more than 14,500 civilian objects have been damaged or destroyed in the region. Orikhiv, Gulyaypole and many other towns have been reduced to ruins. According to approximate estimates, there are about 1 million tonnes of destruction waste on the temporarily occupied territory of the region. On the government-controlled territory, there are over 33.8 thousand tonnes.

"We have a clear plan on how we will restore water supply in the controlled settlements and the rest of the territory after its de-occupation. The government has approved the State Target Programme for Integrated Water Supply of the Territories Affected by Military Operations until 2030. For the Zaporizhzhya region, the plan envisages the construction of more than 1.3 thousand kilometres of new water pipelines, construction of treatment facilities and reconstruction of wells,” said Svitlana Grynchuk.

According to Svitlana Grynchuk, another important project that will also involve Zaporizhzhya is the strengthening of air monitoring with the support of Finnish colleagues. 'We have the opportunity to involve the city in a project implemented within the framework of cooperation between the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

The environmental damage to Ukraine from Russia's full-scale aggression is already estimated at more than $70 billion. Three million hectares of forests have been destroyed, more than 6,500 environmental crimes have been recorded, and 180 million tonnes of CO₂ have been emitted, says Svitlana Grynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, in an interview for Forbes.

According to her, since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, 3 million hectares of forests have been destroyed, and almost a third of the country's territory is mined.

Currently, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine estimates the environmental damage caused by the war at around $70 billion - and this is probably ‘just the tip of the iceberg’.

The war also resulted in the emission of more than 180 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. The displacement of more than 6 million Ukrainian citizens to other countries caused additional emissions of 3.3 million tonnes of CO₂.

Minister Svitlana Grynchuk emphasised that Ukraine is determined to hold Russia accountable for all environmental crimes. According to her, Russia is currently seen as an anti-environmental destroyer, bent on predatory domination of both Ukraine and the natural world.

Nuclear and radiation safety threats

Occupants continue to destroy equipment at Zaporizhzhya NPP!

The Russians are once again proving their professional incompetence at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP.

The invaders tried to repair the damaged shunt reactor of OHL-750kV Dniprovska, which is installed at the 750kV switchgear of the plant. The reactor is connected to one of the overhead lines that supplies Zaporizhzhya NPP with electricity for its own needs from the controlled territory of Ukraine.

After completing the ‘repair’ of the shunt reactor, which the occupiers have been carrying out since 23 November, they tried to switch it on twice, and both times the reactor was shut down by longitudinal and transverse differential protection. All of these actions were carried out by the occupiers without any approval or permission from the Ukrainian power grid's RDC, which is a gross violation of regulatory documents, affects and can lead to a complete loss of power supply for the NPP's own needs with the subsequent development of a nuclear or radiation accident.

' The occupiers continue to cripple the equipment of Zaporizhzhya NPP due to their own incompetence. We receive evidence of equipment degradation almost every day. The latest example also shows the ongoing disorder in the organisation of work at ZNPP. The invaders have turned it into a military base, and incompetent people are in charge of nuclear and radiation safety. All this leads to uncontrolled events that can have a significant impact on NPP safety,’ said Energoatom CEO Petro Kotin.

Recent attacks on infrastructure and industry sites

On 19 December 2024, the enemy attacked Kryvyi Rih with ballistic missiles, hitting a two-storey private house in a densely residential neighbourhood.

The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a residential building, damaged high-rise buildings, private houses, a hospital, a social institution, and about 20 cars.

On the night of 20 December 2024, as a result of a UAV attack, the enemy destroyed one of the ‘Silpo’ warehouses, where frozen products were stored. The fire destroyed goods worth over UAH 400 million.

On 20 December 2024, Russians attacked Kyiv and the Kyiv region with missiles and drones.

According to the Kyiv Municipal Military Administration, 1 person was killed in the Holosiivskyi district. The mayor of Kyiv reports 7 more injured, 2 of whom were hospitalized. Debris has fallen in Holosiivskyi, Solomianskyi, Shevchenkivskyi and Dniprovskyi districts. There are fires on the roofs of buildings and cars are on fire. A heating main in Holosiivskyi district was damaged.

On 25 December 2024, the Russian Armed Forces launched a combined attack on the fuel and energy sector of Ukraine with air-, land- and sea-launched missiles, as well as ‘Shaheds’ and other types of imitation drones:

• Russia launched 12 missiles at industrial facilities and critical infrastructure in Kharkiv. There are currently 500,000 people without electricity in Kharkiv and the region. There are also about 520,000 people without heat and water supply in the city.
• In Ukraine, part of the Ivano-Frankivsk region was cut off from electricity due to an enemy missile attack. Residents of Kalush, Burshtyn and Ivano-Frankivsk lost power.
• Energy infrastructure was damaged and there were temporary power cuts in the Kremenchuk region due to an enemy attack.

Pollution caused directly by hostilities‍According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU), from February 24, 2022, to December 30, 2024, a total of 537,011 explosive objects have been neutralized on the territory of Ukraine. An area of 1505 square kilometres has been surveyed.The full-scale Russian invasion has had a serious impact on Ukrainian agriculture, in particular on the condition of the soil on which crops are grown.With this in mind, researchers at Sumy National Agrarian University (SNAU) have begun to actively explore the possibility of assessing the extent of soil contamination with heavy metals.In the course of their research, scientists at SNAU analysed about 300 soil samples from 30 craters created by aircraft bombs and MLRS shells, and recorded a certain excess of heavy metal concentrations. Particular attention should be paid to the results obtained at military equipment destruction sites - sometimes heavy metal concentrations there are tens or hundreds of times higher than the limit.Damage to natural reserves and protected ecosystemsThe Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svitlana Grynchuk and WWF-Ukraine Executive Director Bohdan Vykhor signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and WWF-Ukraine. The key areas of activity at this stage will be joint work on the creation of virgin forest natural monuments of national importance in Ukraine.‘The focus of our cooperation is not only on biodiversity conservation projects and effective management of protected areas, but also on combating ecocide, climate change adaptation, and harmonisation of Ukrainian and European legislation. I am grateful to WWF-Ukraine for its initiative and systematic approach to our common goal. After all, the most important thing we can do today, when the state's priority is security and defence capability, is to unite and join our efforts. I am sure we have many interesting and important projects ahead,' said Svitlana Grynchuk.

On 19 December 2024 , Svitlana Grynchuk , Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, paid a working visit to the Zaporizhzhya region.

The participants of the trip inspected one of the self-forested areas near the village of Smoliane. This area was transferred by the Bilenkivska territorial community to the SE ‘Forests of Ukraine’.

'It is very important for the frontline and industrial Zaporizhzhya region to work on restoring and increasing the area of forests. In total, almost 4,000 such self-seeding forests with a total area of 10.7 thousand hectares have been identified in the region. Of these, 51 plots have already been approved for further transfer to the SE ‘Forests of Ukraine’. And this work is ongoing,' said Svitlana Grynchuk.

Protecting self-sown forests is an important step towards increasing Ukraine's forest cover in times of war. After all, almost 3 million hectares of Ukrainian forests have already been affected by the war. Almost one million hectares are occupied, and half a million hectares are mined.

Also, Svitlana Grynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, noted on her Facebook page that the damage to the Nature Reserve Fund of Zaporizhzhya region from the armed aggression of the Russian Federation has already amounted to more than UAH 1.5 billion. And this is only as a result of the Russians exploding the Kakhovka HPP dam.

According to her, since the occupation of the Pryazovskyi Park, fires have covered 709 hectares, the area of pollution and destruction of park facilities is 954 hectares, and the area of possible mines is 54 hectares.

‘The occupiers are carrying out ‘barbaric’ industrial fishing for aquatic bioresources in the Azov Sea and adjacent wetlands, using prohibited fishing gear and means,’ the Minister said.

The territory of another park, Velykyi Luh National Park, which is part of the Emerald Network, was turned into a shooting range and their own military positions. The park's property was completely looted. So the estimated losses will be enormous.

‘Today we also visited the “Khortytsia” National Reserve, which suffered as a result of the Russians’ damming of the Kakhovka HPP. After the dam was destroyed, the ecosystem of Khortytsia Island changed. The water surface area of the floodplain here decreased by 85%, and the island's territory increased by almost 200 hectares. There was a massive loss of bottom vegetation and aquatic plants. The living conditions for animals have changed,' says Svitlana Grynchuk.

Black and Azov Seas

On 18 December 2024, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Scientific and Technical Centre for Environmental Monitoring modelled the path of oil products spreading in the Black Sea after the Russian tanker accident.

The modelling was based on the NOAA GNOME (General NOAA Operational Modelling Environment) model, which is widely used to predict the spread of oil products in aquatic environments, including the impact of accidental spills on the environmental state of marine ecosystems.

The initial parameters of the spill were set according to the time of the incident, and the forecast calculations were made for a period of 7 days. Such a time interval ensures that hydrometeorological conditions are taken into account and an acceptable level of accuracy is achieved.

Due to the wind and currents, the fuel oil began to spread rapidly. Strong winds with speeds of up to 24 m/s and wave heights of up to 3.5 m helped the oil slick to move eastwards.

Then the slick began to change its trajectory to the southeast, south of the Taman Peninsula, and headed towards the resort areas of the Krasnodar Territory, including the city of Anapa.

After 40 hours of modelling time, the amount of fuel oil stabilised at less than 5%, which has remained to date.

Dolphins are dying in the Black Sea as a result of a Russian tanker accident.

The dead animals were found in the Krasnodar Territory of Russia. The first one was found on 18 December.

And if yesterday there were ten of them, today there are already 19. That is, it is not only a massive release of bottlenose dolphins, but also the destruction of more than 1% of the population.

This tragedy is clear proof of the consequences of Russian military aggression!

Questions and answers

In this section, we answer the most frequently asked questions to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine. Write to us on social networking sites:

https://www.facebook.com/EnvironmentalofUkraine

What is the latest information on the oil products spill in the Kerch Strait?

As a result of the accident of the Russian tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 in the Kerch Strait during stormy conditions on 15 December 2024, a significant amount of fuel oil was released into the sea and continues to spread across the Black Sea.

According to media reports, oil products have polluted more than 50 km of the coast, including the southern coast of Crimea, the Kerch Strait, the Black Sea and the coast of the Russian Federation near Anapa. As of 30 December, repeated emissions of fuel oil were recorded on the coast of Anapa.

At the same time, more than 226 tonnes of contaminated soil were collected and removed from the territory of Crimea. Pollution was recorded on the shores of Koktebel Bay. Due to a large-scale fuel oil spill, a state of man-made emergency was declared in the region. The oil products continue to move south-westwards, posing a serious threat to the southern coast of Crimea and the adjacent waters. The presence of oil slicks near the southern coast of Crimea indicates a deterioration of the environmental situation in the region and poses a serious threat to marine ecosystems, coastal areas and their biodiversity.

According to the UkrSCEM forecast, a gradual expansion of the oil slick in the Black Sea will be observed by 3 January 2025. The bulk of the fuel oil will move to the south-west, while a high concentration of pollution will remain near the coast of southern Crimea. The dynamics of the spread indicates the influence of variable wind conditions and currents on the pollution configuration.

According to the results of satellite observations and modelling of fuel oil spreading, there is an expansion of the pollution zone with significant concentrations of fuel oil near the southern coast of Crimea

Source - https://ecozagroza.gov.ua/en/news