Environmental impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

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The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to serious environmental consequences for Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions. The invasion has caused pollution of air, soil, water, flooding, air pollution, decommissioning, destruction of large fields, and damage to nature reserve facilities, forest fires (including in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone).

Fires caused by fighting in the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve were large enough to be seen from space.[1]

Environmental pollution[edit]

As a result of hostilities in March 2022 (mostly from 10 March to 18 March, the entire network of large metallurgical and chemical industries concentrated in eastern Ukraine was completely destroyed. Among the many industrial enterprises damaged as a result of hostilities were the most environmentally unsafe industries - Azovstal, Avdiivka, Lysychansk Refinery, Sumykhimprom and others. These enterprises have traditionally posed the greatest danger to the environment in Ukraine and formed the image of one of the most polluted in Ukraine for the cities of their location. At the same time, before its destruction, Azovstal managed to stop the processes in such a way that the damaged facilities did not pose a threat to the environment. On 24 February, the company's management began to develop a program of environmentally safe shutdown. Coke ovens were stopped, the temperature was lowered, and liquid glass was poured in to prevent the coking process from continuing and the coke oven gas to be released as intensively as possible.[2]

Shelling of hazardous facilities and subsequent release of contaminants[edit]

Oil depots were among the first to be affected (in addition, they became the most common category of man-made hazards in various regions). At least 60 oil depots and other storage facilities for fuel and lubricants in 23 oblasts were affected.[3] To assess the scale and unprecedented nature of these events, it should be mentioned that in 2015 there was a fire at the BRSM oil depot near Vasylkiv, which experts assessed as the second largest environmental disaster in Ukraine (after the Chernobyl accident). The event was called the "Vasylkivska tragedy".

The second group of targeted shelling was warehouses of flammable substances (varnishes, paints) and large construction supermarkets of the Epicenter chain. Also on 17 March, a powerful fire engulfed the largest market in Europe - Barabashovo (Kharkiv). The fire was so strong that it spread to several apartment buildings next to the market.[4]

Among other objects that became a source of air pollution due to the shelling was the destruction of the gas pipeline in Kharkov, which led to a powerful explosion and shock wave, which damaged buildings in residential areas (27 February), in Svitlodarsk, where a large fire lasted several hours (10 March), on the same day, Russian aircraft struck the Donetsk-Mariupol gas highway, where an explosion and fire occurred; gas pipeline at the Avdiivka Coke Plant (13 March),[5] 23 March - gas pipeline in Trostyanets. In general, there is very little information about damage to gas pipelines in the public domain, although it is known that as of 5 March 2022 as a result of shelling was recorded shells hit the gas transmission system of Ukraine in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Donetsk, Luhansk regions of Ukraine.[3]

On 21 March, in Sumy at the Sumykhimprom enterprise, missiles hit tanks filled with ammonia, forming a zone of damage with a radius of up to 2.5 km, which can be compared with the actual use of chemical weapons.[6] Also on 5 and 9 April, in Rubezhnoye, the Russians blew up a tank with nitric acid.[7][8]

On 4 April, a cruise missile was shot down by air defense forces in the Kremenets district of Ternopil region. Its wreckage damaged six tanks with organic fertilizers, resulting in a leak of chemicals, the main component of which is ammonia. In a few hours the leak was stopped. There was also water pollution in the Ikva River, which led to the mass death of fish.[9]

Significant transformations of landscapes[edit]

There is one example of the fundamental transformation of natural landscapes caused by the direct actions of Russian troops against Ukraine. On 26 February 2022 in the area of ​​the village Kozarovichi [uk] Russian troops destroyed the dam that separated the Irpin River from the Kiev Reservoir. In one and a half months the water from the reservoir flooded the floodplain of Irpen up to the village Horenka, which is more than 10 kilometers (straight line distance) upstream[10]

  • Destroyed dam

  • The village of Demydiv is flooded

  • Consequences of the destruction of the dam on the river Irpin

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Anthes, Emily (2022-04-13). "A 'Silent Victim': How Nature Becomes a Casualty of War". The New York Times. Translated by Kinsella, Ali. New York, USA: The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  2. ^ Азовсталь був зупинений за правилами та не несе небезпеки екології — гендиректор. suspilne.media (in Ukrainian). Kyiv, Ukraine: НСТУ. 2022-03-19. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  3. ^ a b Інформація про наслідки для довкілля від російської агресії в Україні 24 лютого - 18 березня 2022 року [Information on the environmental consequences of the Russian aggression in Ukraine from 24 February 24 to 18 March 2022]. News (in Ukrainian). Kyiv, Ukraine: Міністерство захисту довкілля та природних ресурсів України (Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine). 2022-03-21. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  4. ^ Через обстріли у Харкові загорівся ринок "Барабашово" [Barabashovo market catches fire due to shelling in Kharkiv]. Українська правда (Ukrayinska Pravda) (in Ukrainian). 2022-03-17. 48609. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  5. ^ На Авдіївському коксохімі після обстрілу горить газопровід [A gas pipeline is burning at the Avdiivka Coke Plant after shelling]. lb.ua (in Ukrainian). 2015-02-10. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  6. ^ Кізілов [Kizilov], Євген [Eugene] (2022-03-21). Через ворожий обстріл на "Сумихімпромі" стався витік аміаку: зона ураження – 2,5 км [Ammonia leaked due to enemy shelling at Sumykhimprom: 2.5 km]. Українська правда (Ukrayinska Pravda) (in Ukrainian). 91030. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  7. ^ Тищенко [Tishchenko], Катерина [Kateryna] (2022-04-09). Луганщина: росіяни влучили в цистерну з азотною кислотою, пари полетіли на їх позиції [Luhansk region: Russians hit a tank with nitric acid, steam flew to their position]. Українська правда (Ukrayinska Pravda) (in Ukrainian). 65608. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  8. ^ Петренко [Petrenko], Роман [Roman] (2022-04-05). Росіяни влучили в цистерну з азотною кислотою на Луганщині – людей просять закрити вікна та шукати маски [The Russians hit a tank with nitric acid in Luhansk region - people are asked to close the windows and look for masks]. Українська правда (Ukrayinska Pravda) (in Ukrainian). 50381. Archived from the original on 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  9. ^ Тищенко [Tishchenko], Катерина [Kateryna] (2022-04-05). "Тернопільщина: через уламки ворожої ракети стався витік хімікатів, забруднено річку" [Ternopil region: chemicals leaked due to enemy rocket debris, river polluted]. Українська правда (Ukrayinska Pravda) (in Ukrainian). 85730. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  10. ^ В Киевской области из-за подрыва оккупантами дамбы есть угроза затопления села. Разлив реки не дает РФ перебрасывать свои войска [In the Kiev region, due to the undermining of the dam by the invaders, there is a threat of flooding the village. The flood of the river does not allow the Russian Federation to transfer its troops.]. nv.ua (in Russian). 2022-03-19. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-04-15.

Further reading[edit]

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