Russia has committed over 8,000 environmental crimes in Ukraine with its attacks during the war. The amount of damage has already reached 85 billion euros. This was stated by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Svitlana Hrynchuk, in an interview with Euronews, reports UNN.
Details
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine has had to reorient itself from managing the country's natural resources and solving the problem of climate change to tracking every case of the aggressor country's deliberate attack on the environment.
We call these crimes against the environment because there is pollution of water resources, destruction of water infrastructure, water supply infrastructure and soil pollution, soil extraction and forest fires. All this is the result of Russia's war
According to the minister, the war has sharpened the attention of Ukrainian society to the problems of protecting natural resources and the environment.
Due to Russian aggression, millions of Ukrainians have lost access to a stable water supply. The destruction of the Kakhovka HPP dam by the Russians played a special role in this.
At the same time, the authors of the material note Ukraine's progress in bringing its environmental legislation in line with EU standards. And they remind that the relevant screening will begin on June 16 in Brussels.
Let us remind you
As of the beginning of 2025, the OSCE recorded more than 7,500 cases of environmental violations, which have already led to damages of 82 billion euros. This poses a serious threat to ecosystems, human health and overall security.