Russia has inflicted “more than 11,000 cases” of environmental damage on Ukraine during the ongoing war, leading to the largest environmental loss recorded in Europe in modern history, a senior official in the Ukrainian government has alleged.
Referencing a report by the Initiative on Greenhouse Gas Accounting of War (IGGAW) and Ukrainian nonprofit Ecoaction, the official claimed that the war, which started in 2022, has so far generated 311 million tonnes (mt) of additional greenhouse gas.
“To monitor environmental damage caused by the war, Ukraine has established a mechanism in the form of an online platform called Ecozagroza (that) has already recorded more than 11,000 cases,” Olha Yushkevych, head of the international cooperation department under the ministry of economy, environment and agriculture of Ukraine, told The Telegraph on the sidelines of the just concluded UN climate meeting at Bonn, Germany.
She said since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, “the amount of environmental damage has amounted to… approximately $156 billion… the largest environmental loss recorded in Europe in modern history”.
She claimed the damage was not limited to Ukraine’s borders but affected people in different parts of the world, including the most vulnerable.
“According to the report, total emissions caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine are estimated at 311mt of carbon dioxide equivalent, which amounts to over $57 billion (in climate damage),” Yushkevych said.
All greenhouse gases are measured with carbon dioxide as the benchmark.
Maryana Tsymbaliuk, an expert from Ecoaction, said that while warfare was directly responsible for 37 per cent of total emissions, resultant landscape fires and reconstruction accounted for 23 per cent each. Civil aviation linked to military operations made up for 9 per cent of total emissions, energy infrastructure 6 per cent, and refugee-related emissions 2 per cent.
Ukraine plans to approach an international platform to seek compensation for environmental and climatic damages linked to the war. “The Ukrainian government is considering filing a claim under the environmental damage category of the Register of Damage for Ukraine, a part of the international claims mechanism,” Yushkevych said.
Quizzed about the scientific veracity of the claim about war-related emissions and the deduction process, the official admitted “methodological challenges” but defended the quality of the report, stating that “the assessments are developed through collaboration between climate scientists, researchers, and technical experts from Ukraine and abroad”.
The report points out that “contamination of soil, water and air with heavy metals, petroleum products, and explosive materials” dominates the damage. It points out that “marine ecosystems and their habitats are also suffering because of oil spills, noise pollution, and military operations in the area”.
As a case study, the Ukrainian government cited the Russian attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in 2023, which it termed “the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl”.