Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's Ministry of Environmental Protection has shifted its focus from managing natural resources and climate issues to tracking environmental damage due to the conflict. As of now, over 8,000 documented cases of environmental crimes attributed to Russia have been noted, with estimates of the impact exceeding €85 billion. The damage includes pollution of water bodies, destruction of infrastructure, and recent attacks like the one on Chernobyl's safety confinement, revealing the severe and long-lasting impact of the war on Ukraine's environment.
"We call it crimes against the environment because there is pollution of water resources, destruction of water infrastructure, water supply infrastructure and soil pollution, soil mining and forest fires. All this is a result of Russia's war."
Hrynchuk pointed out that while it is possible to rebuild and restore civilian infrastructure, resuscitating the environment will be much more difficult, as 'some ecosystems and some natural objects will not return to the pre-war original state.'
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