(Prague) Shaved forests, mined and polluted agricultural land, contaminated rivers: Kyiv sounded the alarm on Wednesday before the European Ministers of the Environment who promised each for their country to help Ukraine to fight against this damage due to the Russian offensive.
Posted at 2:44 p.m.
The Ukrainian Minister of the Environment, Ruslan Strilets, notably reported 3 million hectares of damaged forests, 40 oil depots destroyed at the cost of intense air pollution and at least 260 cases of “ecocides”. , which correspond in Ukrainian law to attacks affecting large natural areas.
Even access to drinking water is threatened: “The Russians are destroying treatment plants”, the waterways are polluted following the bombings, and the relocation of inhabitants in the west of the country “puts existing infrastructure under pressure,” he explained.
Meeting in Prague, the ministers of the Twenty-Seven multiplied the offers of support.
“Several states can help to analyze and list the damage. Others spoke of financial aid,” said Czech Environment Minister Anna Hubakova, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
Prague offers its services for soil decontamination and demining operations: “We had the Russian army on our soil and had to clear minefields, we have the experience,” she recalled.
Austria indicates that it has provided its expertise for a laboratory analyzing drinking water and groundwater, and Poland is offering “equipment and personnel for field measurements”.
Ruslan Strilets assured that Germany had promised “20 million euros” to his country to finance projects for the restoration of natural areas.
“It was very useful to be present, to see who was proposing what, the concrete offers, this will help me to prepare a new program” environmental, he explained.
Faced with disparate proposals, “sometimes overlapping the same areas”, he however suggested better coordination: “A platform listing all the European means would be a good idea”, he estimated.
“Many proposals can be coordinated. If appropriate, it will be done at the European level,” assured Anna Hubackova, stressing that the Europeans will help themselves by supporting Ukraine.
“When industrial sites or buildings contaminated by asbestos are attacked, toxic substances spread into the environment, it will take decades to treat and the damage does not stop at the borders”, argued Austrian Minister Leonore Gewessler.
Helped by its new status as a candidate country, Ukraine also joined the LIFE program at the beginning of July, an EU instrument for co-financing new techniques for safeguarding the environment, endowed with funding of EUR 5.4 billion. euros and to which it may resort.