the disastrous consequences of the conflict on the environment

Every week on average, 65,000 Russian and Ukrainian shells crash into the territory. Munitions that decimate men and mutilate the landscape. Carcasses of tanks, mines, tons of pollutants: an ecological disaster. Sergei Chaparenko, a member of the Petcheniguy association, comes to see in what condition the jewel of Oskile, a huge artificial lake, was called. He tracks the consequences of war on the environment. “Nitrate or phosphate pollution, it has really increased a lot”he laments.

An ecological disaster of 40 billion euros

The Russians blew up the Oskile dam last spring. It was the largest reservoir for the Donbass. Water poured out, flooding the plains. Consequence: two million fish died and birds deserted. It’s a whole polluted region, disfigured by war. Forgotten, the photos of the postcards which extolled the sweetness of life for tourists. Today, according to the mayor, in his municipality in eastern Ukraine, 85,000 hectares have become minefields, and access to forests is now prohibited. The total cost of this ecological disaster amounts to 40 billion euros. A sum that Ukraine wants to claim, in the long term, from Russia, for war reparation.