Russian aggression against Ukraine has turned into a global environmental threat. Daily shelling causes tons of emissions of harmful substances into the air, harms nature and threatens the climate stability of the entire continent. In just ten days of June - more than 82 cases of destruction, thousands of tons of pollution and millions of dollars in losses.
This was reported by the Minister of Environmental Protection Svitlana Hrynchuk during the OSCE Conference on Climate and Security, UNN reports.
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She noted that the next wave of Russian aggression is causing increasing damage to the environment, which "has consequences for the entire continent".
Since June 1 this year, Russia has launched almost 2.5 thousand air targets at Ukraine - Shaheds, cruise and ballistic missiles. Every night attack by Russia is, at the very least, a sharp increase in air pollution. The explosion of one missile causes 60 kg of emissions
She explained that in 10 days of shelling of Odesa, more than 344 tons of harmful substances entered the air.
The price of such terror is $26,000 in damages
In turn, one night of shelling of Kyiv from June 9 to 10 - "this is 1902 tons of emissions or about 140 thousand US dollars of damage".
According to the Minister, in less than half of June - damage in Lutsk, a fire at an industrial facility in Lviv region, a drone hitting an industrial facility in Sumy region, a fire at a motor depot and in warehouses in Ternopil, a fire in apartment buildings and a children's railway in Kharkiv region, shelling of a psychiatric clinic and a destroyed wheat field in Kherson region also took their toll.
Hrynchuk added that in ten days of June, more than 82 cases of damage and destruction were recorded: cars, critical infrastructure, commercial and administrative buildings were burned down.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have already recorded more than 8,000 cases of environmental damage, and the total damage to nature as a result of hostilities in Ukraine exceeds 94 billion US dollars
And the most terrible thing is that, according to the official, pollution spreads far beyond Ukraine. This war has a detrimental impact on the climate system and ecosystems of the entire continent. She stressed that every day of the war takes Ukraine further away from a climate-neutral, "green" future.
Greenhouse gas emissions in 3 years of full-scale invasion already exceed 230 million tons of CO₂, she noted, adding that "a year of war in Ukraine corresponds to the annual emissions of a country like Belgium."
Different types of weapons are used, unknown in previous wars - each ammunition leaves its mark. And the longer this war lasts, the more missiles and Shaheds fly into our cities, the bigger the trace
The official stressed the importance of unity around environmental issues in order to build a common "green" future". Earlier, UNN wrote that Russia committed more than 8,000 crimes against the environment in Ukraine with its attacks during the war. The amount of damages has already reached 85 billion euros.