Hell on Earth: Russia is creating an ecological catastrophe in Ukraine

Hell on Earth: Russia is creating an ecological catastrophe in Ukraine, the first data are terrifying

IRINA MIROCHNIK

The war in Ukraine, among others, already has and will have terrible environmental consequences. The Horde brought with it not only direct destruction, but also delayed and indirect damage that has yet to be calculated.

Here is just one fact for you to consider: part of the territories of France and Italy have been contaminated since the First World War and are still not used for agriculture and any other purposes.

Brief summary

According to official figures, 6 million pets died. On the territory of Ukraine, the Polissya bear population has completely disappeared. Destroyed at least 50 thousand dolphins in the Black Sea.

Thousands of hectares of soil are contaminated with harmful substances. Most of them are fertile soils. More precisely, these were fertile soils. During and after a munitions explosion, chemical reactions occur that can cause acid rain. Explosives not used in the explosion remain in the funnels in the form of sulfur or radioactive elements.

Millions of hectares of forest burned out due to shelling. Unexploded mines and shells remained on almost 200,000 hectares of land, and full-scale agricultural work on them is impossible until mine clearance.

Hell on Earth: Russia is creating an ecological catastrophe in Ukraine

There are also indirect environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine, which affect the whole world. It’s about increasing CO2 emissions. Damage from air pollution in monetary terms has already reached about 23.5 billion euros, soil and land – more than 3.5 billion. Another 11.4 billion euros is needed to repair the damage caused to the soil.

The estimated value of the fallen livestock is over $136 million. Animals die not only from active hostilities, but also from limited physical access to farms, lack of feed and lack of veterinary services.

The total damage from the war in agriculture in Ukraine reached 4.3 billion US dollars.

In the structure of damage, the largest losses are recorded as a result of the destruction or partial damage to agricultural land and non-harvesting – $ 2.135 billion.

Agricultural lands suffered two significant types of damage – mine contamination and direct physical damage. The cost of surveying high-risk lands and demining affected areas is estimated at $436 million.

The southern regions – the occupied territories and those where heavy fighting is taking place – are also the regions with the most developed irrigation infrastructure. The estimated cost to replace and repair the damaged irrigation infrastructure is $225 million.

All the details, assessments, criteria and extent of damage in the article.

Hell on Earth: Russia is creating an ecological catastrophe in Ukraine, the first data are terrifying!

MILA RUKHMAN

The main tragedy of any armed conflict is its consequences. Usually they talk more about significant human losses, destruction of infrastructure and economic problems. Much less attention is paid to the environmental consequences of the war – although they can cause many deaths in the long term, both in Ukraine and in other countries.

It is impossible to estimate the exact scale of the ecological catastrophe that Russia brought to Ukraine, but there are still some figures, and they are terrifying.

According to official figures, 6 million pets died. On the territory of Ukraine, the Polissya bear population has completely disappeared. Destroyed at least 50 thousand dolphins in the Black Sea. They, according to scientists, died from acoustic trauma and disorientation caused by increased military activity in the Black Sea, as well as from heavy metal poisoning that enters the water due to shell explosions. Mechanical wounds and burns were found on the bodies of some individuals.

The situation is so serious that people in the Kyiv region, where active hostilities took place last spring, are shortening their lives by planting and harvesting now … Sulfur is part of almost all explosive objects. This element remains in the air forever, and people, inhaling it, clog the alveoli of their lungs, increasing the likelihood of oncological diseases.

Dozens of coal mines have been flooded, including the one in which an underground nuclear explosion was carried out in 1979 – this is the Yunkom mine in the Donetsk region, on the territory occupied by Russia. It has been flooded for several years, and everyone in Moscow knows what a threat this poses not only to the rivers in the Donetsk region, but also to the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the entire Black Sea basin.

About 12.5 thousand square kilometers of protected areas of Ukraine ended up in the war zone. A fifth of the reserves are under the threat of destruction, about 2,000 cases of environmental damage have already been recorded. Populations of endemic plant and animal species have suffered significant losses, migratory bird species have been deprived of their usual routes and nesting sites, and the results of many years of projects to restore biological diversity have been destroyed.

Wild animals die from shelling and shrapnel wounds. Light and noise pollution and vibrations scare away animals, their food base is destroyed, and when crossing rivers with military equipment, fuels and lubricants get into the water and poison it. The damage to the fauna was aggravated by the fact that the fighting began in the spring, during the breeding season of most species.

The total damage to vegetation, including forests, is approximately 4.5 billion euros. It will be possible to assess all the damage caused only after the complete cessation of hostilities. According to preliminary estimates of scientists, it will take at least 15 years to restore the ecology of Ukraine, but some of the damage is irreversible.

Mapping (producing a map of the most affected areas) and initial verification of environmental hazards So far there have been no precedents for the use of the so-called dirty bomb and tactical nuclear weapons, and we are talking about traditional weapons, always cause contamination of the soil, which then takes many decades to recover. For example, part of the territories of France and Italy have remained polluted since the First World War and are still not used for agriculture and any other purposes.

The destruction of infrastructure, housing, energy and water supply facilities, in addition to grief for people, also entails severe environmental consequences. In any city, the destruction of the water supply system not only deprives residents of drinking water, but also causes chemical pollution. Indeed, reagents are used to purify water, and when the purification system and water canals are destroyed, these substances enter the soil, seep into groundwater, and pollute sources.

The consequence will be not only the spread of bacterial infections, but also the progression of oncological diseases. The deterioration of health is already being observed among residents of de-occupied settlements, front-line territories and combat zones.

Attacks on energy infrastructure also harm the environment. Each shelling of a thermal power plant operating on coal or gas leads to pollution of the soil on which it stands, and water, into which fine dust and particles of chemical elements fall. Although, as a rule, such stations stop their work after destruction and do not have a long-term impact on the environment.

During the eight months of the war, 31 million tons of carbon were released into the atmosphere, which is about the same amount that New Zealand produces in a year. 79 million tons of greenhouse emissions could be produced during the reconstruction of infrastructure and buildings destroyed by Russian troops. 40 Ukrainian oil depots were destroyed by rocket attacks, and due to fires, about 500,000 tons of toxic substances entered the atmosphere.

So war carries a danger to people and nature, even where active hostilities were not waged.

And where there are battles, during rocket and artillery strikes, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere increase. This is a huge burden on the environment. For example, one Soviet T-72 tank (these are actively used in the war in Ukraine) consumes 250 liters of diesel fuel per 100 kilometers, a combat fighter – about 5,000 liters of kerosene per flight hour. For comparison: in 2021, about 2 tons of toxic substances were released into the atmosphere, and only in the first six months of the war in Ukraine in 2022, emissions into the atmosphere amounted to 46 million tons.

The total damage from the war in agriculture in Ukraine reached 4.3 billion US dollars.

Here are the key scores:

– In the structure of damage, the largest losses are recorded as a result of the destruction or partial damage to agricultural land and non-harvesting – $ 2.135 billion.

– Agricultural land suffered two significant types of damage – mine contamination and direct physical damage. The cost of surveying high-risk lands and demining affected areas is estimated at $436 million.

– The southern regions – the occupied territories and those where heavy fighting is taking place – are also the regions with the most developed irrigation infrastructure. The estimated cost to replace and repair the damaged irrigation infrastructure is $225 million.

– Harms not only direct damage to the land. Occupation, warfare and mine contamination limit farmers’ access to fields and their ability to harvest. Approximately 2.4 million hectares of winter crops worth $1.435 billion will remain unharvested as a result of Russian aggression.

– The estimated cost of replacing and repairing damaged farm equipment is $926 million. The Russian Federation purposefully destroys elevator capacities in order to weaken the Ukrainian agricultural sector. Damage from damage or destruction of granaries – 272 million dollars.

– The estimated value of the fallen livestock is over $136 million. Animals die not only from active hostilities, but also from limited physical access to farms, lack of feed and lack of veterinary services. About 42,000 sheep and goats, 92,000 cattle, 258,000 pigs and over 5.7 million poultry died in areas subjected to Russian aggression. In addition, the destruction of large livestock farms, where the Russians destroyed the entire livestock, carries an additional risk to human health, due to the fact that the corpses of animals not recycled.

All these data undeniably testify that as a result of Russian aggression, the environmental situation in Ukraine today is close to catastrophic, and a humanitarian catastrophe is already occurring in the southern regions due to the shutdown of electricity, water, and sewerage. Russia has brought with it to Ukraine a level of degradation the likes of which have never been seen here.

29-12-2022

[Writer Irina Mirochnik is the President at IMMER Group & Doctor of Philosophy in Law(PhD)]

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