Genevieve Kotarska and Lauren Young write:

The Russian attack on a Ukrainian nuclear power plant at the beginning of March 2022 led to fears of a nuclear disaster worse than Chernobyl. Fortunately, the fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant was contained with no damage to essential equipment or change in radiation levels. However, the incident alerted the international community to the many threats the conflict poses to environmental security. The conflict in Ukraine is resulting in a devastating loss of human life but also – as with many historic conflicts – simultaneously risks environmental catastrophe.

The environmental impacts of the conflict are varied and significant, but to date have been largely overlooked. Conflict-related environmental degradation has far-reaching, long-term impacts and – as the situation in Ukraine demonstrates – requires international cooperation to address.

The environmental ramifications of the conflict began long before Russia’s invasion on 24 February 2022. The conflict between the Ukrainian Army and Russia-backed forces after Moscow’s 2014 invasion of Donbas suitably illustrates some of the environmental risks entailed with war.

The Donbas region is highly industrialised and home to hundreds of collieries, metallurgical plants, mines and chemically dangerous operations. Shelling of these industrial sites resulted in the release of hazardous waste and led to the contamination of water, soil and land.

Equally concerningly, after 2014, 70 of the 94 mines in the Donbas region ended up in separatist-controlled areas. It is impossible to confirm if the mines in the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics – unrecognised by the international community – are being properly maintained, intensifying concerns over the contamination of ground and surface water. Water from the region feeds into the Siverskyi-Donets – the largest river in eastern Ukraine – presenting risks to local drinking water supplies and to water beyond Ukraine’s borders, posing a transnational threat. [Continue reading…]