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

The blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station dam is the largest catastrophe caused by Russian invaders since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

At night of June 6, Russian occupiers blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station. As of June 9, the destruction of the dam and the earthen insert between the station building and the locks is ongoing. Within a 24-hour period on June 8, the water level in the Kakhovka water reservoir decreased by nearly 1 meter. Since the morning of June 6, the water level has already dropped by a total of 4.7 meters.

The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station dam held a volume of approximately 18 million cubic meters of water. Ukraine has already lost 6.5 million cubic meters of water. An area of about 600 square kilometers in the Kherson region has been flooded. As of the morning of June 9, 46 settlements have been inundated.

In the evening of June 8, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a video call with representatives of the global environmental protection community, including politics and public figures, opinion leaders, and environmental experts.

In his speech, the President of Ukraine emphasized that the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant disaster is not a natural disaster or a manifestation of the climate crisis, but a disaster ordered by Putin personally.
According to the President, this Russian crime of ecocide is the largest in Europe in decades. The Head of State also drew attention to the fact that due to the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam, fuel storage facilities, warehouses with chemicals and fertilizers, animal burial grounds, including two "anthrax burials" on the temporarily occupied territory, were flooded; sewage got into the water.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of a high-level international working group that will consolidate worldwide efforts to bring Russia to justice for the ecocide in Ukraine.

Due to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, 160,000 birds and over 20,000 wild animals are under threat. This was reported by Ruslan Strilets, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, during a telethon.

On June 8, Minister Ruslan Strilets, as part of a delegation headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. The Minister expressed his gratitude to all environmentalists for their dedicated work during these extremely challenging times.

"This is the largest environmental catastrophe in Ukraine since Chernobyl. Approximately 40,000 cubic meters of water are flowing out of the Kakhovka reservoir every second. Ukraine has already lost 6.5 cubic kilometers of water. We are in negotiations with the OSCE and UNEP regarding the involvement of their experts. We need a clear understanding of how this act of 'desperation' by the Russians will affect the environment and how we can restore nature where possible," emphasized Minister Ruslan Strilets.

Nuclear and radiation safety threats

According to Energoatom, despite blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station dam by the Russian occupiers, the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains under control.

As of 8:00 on June 9, the water level in the Kakhovka reservoir near Nikopol is 11.74 meters, while in the cooling pond of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, it is 16.66 meters. This is sufficient to meet the station's needs. The Zaporizhzhia NPP units have not been operational since September 2022, so active evaporation of water from the cooling pond has not been occurring since then.

Despite numerous calls from the IAEA and world leaders, Russian occupiers continue to transform the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant into a military base.

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, military personnel of the Russian aggressors, armored vehicles, and trucks are constantly present near power units No. 1, 2, and 4, and their numbers are constantly increasing.

Ukrainian employees of the rotating shifts, who are supposed to inspect power units of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant at least 1-2 times a week, are not allowed to do their work. Those who attempted to carry out inspections have been beaten and tortured by Russian terrorists. Several employees of the ZNPP are in critical condition in the hospital.

On May 30, Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced 5 principles for ensuring the security of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant at a UN Security Council meeting. The IAEA Director General assured that the agency's representatives would monitor their implementation and publicly report any violations.

Energoatom informs that the liberation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the expulsion of the Russian aggressors from Energodar, and the transfer of control over the plant to its legitimate Ukrainian operator are the only way to stop Russian lawlessness at the nuclear power plant and ensure its safety.

Recent attacks on infrastructure and industrial sites

On the night of May 25, the terrorist country attacked Ukraine with 36 Shahed drones.

On May 26, the Russians carried out a mass nighttime attack, launching 17 missiles of various types and 31 strike drones across Ukraine:

• a fire broke out in two private enterprises in Dnipro, and a gas station was damaged;
• debris from a Russian missile fell in two districts of Kyiv, causing damage to a shopping mall;
• a civilian industrial facility was damaged in Merefa, the Kharkiv region, and a fire broke out.

In the morning of May 26, the aggressor country destroyed a medical facility in Dnipro with a missile attack, resulting in 4 deaths and 32 injuries, including children.On May 28, during the night, the Russians launched a record number of 59 kamikaze drones, targeting Ukraine. The falling debris from the drones caused casualties and destruction in various districts of Kyiv and in the Zhytomyr region. The roof of a shopping mall caught fire in Kyiv, a fire broke out at an industrial facility, and warehouses caught fire.On the night of May 29, Russia once again attacked Ukraine. Ukrainian defenders shot down 36 cruise missiles and 30 strike drones. There was a hit on a port infrastructure facility in Odesa, but the fire was promptly extinguished. In the daytime of May 29, Russia attacked the Kyiv region with ballistic and cruise missiles.On the night of May 30, Russia attacked Kyiv with drones. Falling debris caused casualties and destruction in various areas of Kyiv. 17 residential buildings were reported damaged.On May 31, the enemy attacked a transport company in the Mezhyricka community of the Dnipropetrovsk region.On International Children's Day, June 1, Russia launched Iskander missiles at civilian and critical infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region. As a result of the attack, three people were killed in Kyiv, including one child.On June 2, two people were killed in Zaporizhzhia as a result of Russian shelling on a multi-story building in Komyshuvakha.On June 3, a Russian missile strike on multi-story buildings in the Dnipropetrovsk region injured22 people, and one child was killed.On June 5, in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region, Russian occupiers damaged an ammonia pipeline, causing a leakage. The safety valves at the station were activated, and the ammonia leak was minimal.On June 6, the terrorist country once again shelled the ammonia pipeline in the Kupiansk district. Measurements showed that there was no ammonia in the air in the populated areas of the Kupiansk district.Since the first day of the full-scale war, Ukrainian energy facilities have been targeted by Russian forces. Ukraine’s energy system has withstood hundreds of attacks and even experienced the first blackout in its history. Overall, about 50% of the country's energy infrastructure has been damaged. Renewable energy facilities, which accounted for over 13% of the country's electricity production before the full-scale war, have not been spared and have seen a decline in their capacities.In the fall of 2022, almost all wind power plants and nearly half of the solar power plants were out of operation. As a result, the share of renewable energy sources in energy production has more than halved. The damage to Ukraine's renewable energy facilities is discussed in detail in an article by Ekonomichna Pravda.

Pollution caused directly by hostilities

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, from February 24, 2022, to June 9, 2023, 397,527 explosive objects were neutralized on the territory of Ukraine. An area of 890 square kilometers was surveyed.

During a briefing, Colonel Serhiy Reva, the head of the Humanitarian Demining Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that the main efforts of rescuers were focused on demining the occupied territories of the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Donetsk regions. The most challenging situation has arisen in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions since they have been under enemy occupation for the longest time, and Russian forces had significant capabilities for mining.

The highest priority for pyrotechnicians is inspecting critical infrastructure objects such as roads, power transmission lines, and gas pipelines. Rescuers have already inspected 5,800 kilometers of power transmission lines, 370 kilometers of gas pipelines, 600 kilometers of railway tracks, and nearly 3,500 kilometers of roads.

According to the Mariupol City Council, the Russians have killed tens of thousands of innocent people in temporarily occupied Mariupol, destroyed over 1,300 buildings, and continue to demolish the damaged buildings. The destruction of buildings and settlements leads to environmental pollution with construction debris and asbestos. The consequences of such pollution will be felt for years to come.

In over 15 months of the full-scale war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already destroyed more than 26,000 units of Russian military equipment, amounting to nearly 500,000 tons of metal scrap waste. The burning of this equipment has resulted in the release of over 52,000 tons of pollutants into the atmosphere.

Damage to natural reserves and protected ecosystems

Artificial flooding caused by the Kakhovka dam blast claims not only human lives but also thousands of innocent animals. Ukrainian rescuers, local residents, and representatives of volunteer organizations are doing everything possible to rescue the animals.

In the first hours after the dam explosion on June 6, over 300 animals drowned in the Kazkova Dibrova Zoo in the temporarily occupied Nova Kakhovka.

Due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, thousands of species of animals and plants, which have different conservation statuses, are now at risk of extinction.

9 sites from the Emerald Network (Dnipro-Bug Estuary, Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, Oleshky Sands) and 5 Ramsar sites are under threat and in the affected zone.

Ukraine may lose some ecosystems forever, including in the Lower Dnipro, Great Meadow, Kamianska Sich, and Ivory Coast of Sviatoslav national parks.

A mass death of fish is happening in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions due to the rapid drop in water levels in the Kakhovka reservoir.

In the Lower Dnipro National Park, almost all islands (approximately 50) have been flooded. As of today, the water level near the islands has risen by 5.5 meters, covering an area of about 80,000 hectares. This is approximately equivalent to the area of the city of Berlin.

The intensity of flooding is decreasing, but water is still arriving. There are observed landslides and the transfer of rock debris by water. The flooding has affected all species of flora and fauna in the national park. Some species may disappear. The flooding has affected areas where typical and rare groups of floodplain forests, swamps, meadows, sandy steppes, steppe slopes of the Dnipro, ravines, and rock outcrops are preserved.

In total, the park's flora includes 1,016 species: 834 species of higher vascular plants, 111 species of lichens, 21 species of lichenophilic fungi, and 50 species of mosses. All of them have been damaged. Among the animals that may perish are wild boars, red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, pheasants, beavers, and muskrats.

The State Environmental Inspection has assessed the damage to the Lower Dnipro National Park. According to the estimation methodology, the estimated cost of damage is UAH 46.55 billion (EUR 1.17 bln). The approximate losses if wild animals have died amount to UAH 71.5 million (EUR 1.8 mln).

In the occupied Great Meadow National Park, there is a risk of shallowing the water and marshland areas of the "Archipelago of Great and Small Kuchugury" due to the water level decrease.

Due to ecosystem changes, 54 species of fish and 156 species of birds that inhabit the archipelago islands are at risk. Currently, a shallowing of 1.7 meters has been recorded, with the water receding 17 meters from the shore. The critical level is 8 meters.

The Seven Lighthouses Bay archipelago within the territory of the Great Meadow National Park is estimated to be 50% shallower with a 9-meter decrease in water level (complete shallowing will occur with a 14-meter decrease). This will result in the disappearance of 47 fish species, with risks for 137 fish species.

Due to the destruction of the dam, the water level in the Kakhovka reservoir within the Kamianska Sich National Park has decreased by 4 meters and continues to fall.

This could lead to the irreversible loss of entire ecosystems in the plant and animal world. The reservoir banks will become unsuitable for the existence of all living organisms for decades, turning into saline areas.

More than 19 endangered Red Book plant species, and dozens of wetland bird species protected under the Bern Convention, will permanently disappear from these areas. What could not be destroyed during the 8 months of Russian occupation in 2022, was destroyed by the blowing up the dam by the invaders.

Approximately 55,000 hectares of forests have been inundated, of which 47,000 hectares are located in the area temporarily occupied by Russians.

The left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region is covered by pine forests. If the flooding water remains stagnant for up to 20 days (as forecasted), trees aged up to 10 years old will be particularly at risk.

While there may still be hope for preserving plants in the forest, animals are essentially doomed. This includes deer, roe deer, and wild boars. Lizards, snakes, hares, and hedgehogs have no chance of survival.

Furthermore, due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, at least 150 tons of machine oil have leaked into the Dnipro River. Pollution of plants with oil leads to irreversible consequences in the process of photosynthesis.

Extensive forest fires are recorded on the Kinburn Peninsula. This is evidenced by data from the automated satellite system. The peninsula has been cut off from mainland Ukraine by the water. The road in the vicinity of the village of Heroiske, which connected the peninsula to the mainland, is completely flooded. It is no longer possible to reach the mainland from the peninsula by land transport.

Prior to the full-scale invasion, the Lyman forestry in the Donetsk region was involved in the forestry management of the region. It oversaw 27,000 hectares of forests, with 18,000 hectares as part of the Holy Mountains National Nature Park.

The forest area, along with Lyman district, was occupied by Russians from May to October 2022. During the occupation, some fires were left unextinguished, resulting in many trees and plant species being lost. Over 6,500 hectares of forest were damaged by fires as a result of the hostilities. A significant area of the forests was destroyed due to explosions, with craters from the blasts and fortification structures damaging a large portion of the soil. It is currently impossible to determine the exact extent of the damage due to the contamination of the forests and forest roads with explosive objects.

New seedlings have already been planted in some of the damaged forest areas affected by active hostilities. On World Forest Day, March 21, 9,000 pine seedlings were planted on a 3-hectare plot of land. The planting material was grown in the Lviv Tree Nursery from seeds collected by foresters in the territory of the Lyman forestry. More details about the plans for the restoration of the Lyman forestry can be found in the article published by the Eastern  Variant media outlet.

According to the Forests of Ukraine State Enterprise, Ukrainian foresters have planted 111 million new trees this spring. The largest number of trees were planted in the Rivne, Zhytomyr, and Kyiv regions. During the spring afforestation campaign, foresters planted forests on 15,458 hectares of land, including planting new forests on 739 hectares.

Damage to freshwater resources

At least 150 tons of oil from destroyed Kakhovka HPP have already leaked into the Dnipro River. This will lead to a deterioration in water quality, accumulation, and spread of toxins. All aquatic organisms will be affected.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Environmental Inspection are assessing the damages. Exceedance of petroleum product concentration in water by several times has been recorded, but there is a tendency for this pollution to decrease.

Preliminary damage (to water resources only) amounts to UAH 2 billion (EUR 50 mln).

According to the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, on May 25, Russian military forces destroyed the dam of the Karlivka water reservoir with a missile strike. The settlements of Halytsynivka, Zhelanne-1, and Zhelanne-2 are now at risk of flooding.

Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the Russian occupation army has consistently shelled Karlivka, specifically targeting the dam, disregarding the fact that civilians would be the primary victims of these actions.

The Karlivka reservoir is a source of water supply for several towns in the Donetsk region, including Kurakhove, Novohrodivka, Pokrovsk, Selidove, and Myrnograd. Communities located in the potential flood zone have been warned, and if necessary, the evacuation of the civilian population will be launched.

According to the State Environmental Inspectorate, in October 2022, as a result of a kamikaze drone attack on one of the major exporting enterprises in Mykolaiv, vegetable oil leaked into the waters of the Bug Estuary. Approximately 750 square meters of the estuary's waters were contaminated, and 675.8 cubic meters of oil were collected from the water surface.

Despite efforts to clean up the contamination, some amount of oil remains on the surface. The oil is almost insoluble in water at low temperatures and floats on the surface. During this time, various bird species’ deaths were observed as the oil coated their feathers, preventing them from flying.

Over time, the oil acquired a milky-white color, high viscosity, and, mixed with accompanying pollutants, settled as a dense layer on the bottom of the Bug Estuary over a significant area. As a result, some fish species were left without their food base, and spawning grounds were contaminated, decreasing their population.

Black and Azov Seas

As a result of the water stream caused by the explosion by Russian occupying forces at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station, a rapid flow of debris, fragments of various objects, boats, and even building structures is being carried downstream by the Dnipro River and partially into the Black Sea.

The currents have also swept away mine and explosives that the occupiers had set up on the left bank of the river. Currently, a large number of mines are drifting in the water along the flow. One of such anti-personnel mines was washed ashore in the Odesa region. Defense forces have safely neutralized the threat.

In the context of the ongoing emergency situation caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station, the mine danger has been significantly increased along the banks of the Dnipro River, the Dnipro-Bug Estuary, and the entire Black Sea coastline of the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.

Russian occupiers continue destroying the unique Dzharylgach National Park in the Kherson region. The scale of the environmental damage will depend on the intensity of the Russian military's use of the island's territory. According to Professor Yevhen Khlobystov from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the entire national park will be destroyed within 1-2 months if the occupiers engage in purely military activities.

Dzharylgach is a 42-kilometer-long island that is home to nearly 500 species of rare plants. "There is unique biodiversity there, with dozens of species listed in the Red Book, unique sands. Sometimes Dzharylgach is referred to as the Ukrainian Maldives. Russian military forces have already destroyed the natural uniqueness of Cape Opuk in occupied Crimea, so it is highly likely that they will do the same to Dzharylgach Island," added the professor.

Ivan Rusiev, a Ukrainian scientist, reported another incident of a dead dolphin being washed up on the coast of the Tuzla Estuaries National Park. According to the scientist, during March-April 2023, dolphin deaths were recorded in the bays of Sevastopol and other coasts of occupied Crimea, as well as near Novorossiysk, Sochi, Gelendzhik, and Anapa, including injured animals. The activity of sonars used by Russian submarines and surface vessels in the Black Sea near occupied Crimea and Novorossiysk is likely the main factor contributing to the continued death of rare Black Sea animals.

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