Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has claimed millions of lives, but environmental activists are also worried that the environmental damage to their country will be irreversible.
“This is actually a huge risk for the whole world,” said Evgenia Zasyadko, who heads the environmental crime team at the Kyiv-based EcoAction, a non-governmental organization that pushes for a green policy in Ukraine.
Ambush fled Ukraine, finding a way from Kharkov to safety in a country he did not disclose due to security concerns after enduring days of heavy shelling and airstrikes.
She is watching from a distance, determined to hold Russia responsible for Ukraine’s environmental damage.
From her temporary home, she and a network of 15 people scattered across Eastern Europe are closely monitoring the crimes they say were committed by Russia, which she describes as causing serious pollution and damage to the ecosystem and people.
So far, they have registered 144 alleged environmental crimes using open source intelligence, verified videos and witness reports. Zasyadko says there are many more incidents in eastern Ukraine that are not yet on the radar.
Firefighters are working to put out a fire at the Lisichansk oil refinery after it was hit by a rocket in Lisichansk in the Luhansk region on April 16. (REUTERS / Marko Djurica)
For example, Zasyadko cited numerous videos and photos collected by fuel storage investigators erupting black puffs of smoke in the air after they were allegedly hit by rockets or set on fire.
“This is damage to industrial buildings. This is energy safety and nuclear safety. This is damage to ecosystems and damage to the marine ecosystem because there have been several ships that have been bombed,” she said.
Pollution can last for decades
Propellants, explosives and heavy metals used in weapons contain many pollutants, including some carcinogenic compounds that can be dispersed into the air and leach into soil and water with serious environmental impacts, according to report from Defense Research and Development Canada.
“We collect the numbers of the tanks, the number of bombs and everything that comes to Ukraine from military action,” she said.
The sheer number of possible military pollutants and environmental consequences is another reason why Zasyadko says Ukraine needs the war to end as soon as possible, not only for its country but also for neighboring Russia.
“Do they have enough understanding of the damage it can do not only to Ukraine but to Russia as well?” She said.
He fears that the effects of the war on the environment will displace a second wave of refugees in Ukraine due to contaminated soil and water.
“The territory would not be possible for living, for using their water, for growing any plants or vegetables, because that would be a high risk to their health in the long run,” she said.
Contamination of the soil from ammunition could continue for decades, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. There is little published information due to restrictions on military information, the organization said, but it has been documented in parts of Scotland and Germany.
Photos from the Luhansk Regional State Administration, on an alleged Russian strike on an oil base, school and house on March 30 and 31:
A few precedents
Even if EcoAction had the evidence, it would be difficult to hold Russia accountable, said Doug Weir, director of research and policy at the Observatory on Conflict and the Environment.
“There are very few precedents in which states have been held responsible for environmental damage and conflict,” Weir said at his home in West Yorkshire, England.
“The most famous is the UN Compensation Commission, which was set up after the Gulf War in 1991, but the circumstances were quite unusual and very specific, as Iraq had caused a lot of damage by setting fire to oil wells in Kuwait.”
The UN Security Council has set up a compensation claims commission, of which environmental claims were a small part, Weir said. The UN was able to impose some compensation because Iraq was not on the Security Council and had no veto power.
“Can you repeat something similar in the case of Ukraine at the moment?” Probably not in the same way as Russia as a permanent member of the Security Council with a veto, “Weir said.
Rescuers are working in a residential building damaged during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol on April 19th. (REUTERS / Alexander Ermochenko)
“But there are other potential opportunities for an independent tribunal that is likely to consider reparations for a range of damages caused by Russia.
Weir is worried that some of the damage from weapons toxicity in Ukraine may be permanent, but he is also concerned about what they could unleash when they hit their targets.
“Maybe substances like asbestos” and all this is ground to dust particles that we know PM2.5 [fine particulate matter] for example, it is very bad for public health, “he said.
“We know that there are potentially many environmental pollutants that could affect people in these areas.”
“War exacerbates global warming”
At the Balsillie School of International Relations in Waterloo, Ontario, PhD student Tamara Lorintz is concerned about the consequences of Canada’s contribution to the conflict, including the ammunition it has provided to Ukraine.
“All the weapons that Canada sends to Ukraine have an adverse effect on the environment,” she said.
There is also the carbon footprint of war machines that needs to be taken into account, Lorinz said.
“Fighters, warships, tanks consume excessive amounts of petroleum products and emit carbon emissions into the atmosphere,” she said. “War exacerbates global warming.”
Tamara Lorintz is studying the impact of the conflict on climate at Wilfried University in Waterloo, Ont. She says the war is exacerbating climate change. (CBC / Tina Mackenzie)
Military emissions are excluded from most national plans to reduce greenhouse gases, Lorinz said.
“They are huge heavy vehicles with a very limited range. And they are energy inefficient. They consume excessive amounts of diesel. “Again, they are polluting the soil and releasing carbon emissions, which are worsening climate change,” she said.
In a statement to CBC News, the Department of National Defense said it was “working to move to zero carbon emissions and climate-resilient operations, while reducing the impact on the environment beyond carbon, including waste, water and biodiversity.”
She says she has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 38 per cent from 2005 levels through her defense, energy and environment strategy – but that figure does not include the military’s “national safety and security fleets”, including large emissions such as aircraft and vessels.
A local resident stands next to unexploded mortars left during the Russian invasion in the village of Yahidne, Ukraine, on April 20th. Although there is little published research on munitions pollution, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says World War I and World War II left soils in parts of Europe contaminated for decades. (Vladislav Musienko / Reuters)
Instead of supplying weapons to Ukraine, Lorinz would prefer to see Canada help monitor the environmental effects of the war and rebuild.
“Make sure that post-conflict and post-conflict reconstruction is done in an environmentally friendly and environmentally friendly way. So, you know, we could work with Ukraine, for example, then to rebuild it with green principles and in an energy-efficient way.” she said.
Lorinz believes the conflict could not have come at a worse time for the environment and has put international cooperation on climate change at risk.
“We need to work with all countries like Russia and China to tackle global warming, and the war is undermining our ability to work well with other countries,” she said, noting that Russia itself is in a severe climate crisis with forest fires and droughts. and extreme heat waves.
“I am very concerned that this Russian invasion of Ukraine, this ongoing war, will increase tensions between the countries and make it difficult for us to cooperate and reach the global solutions we need to tackle the climate crisis.”
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