How the Russo-Ukrainian War is Destroying the Environment

By: G. Dutra

The onset of the Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2022 and the subsequent heavy military activity which has persisted until today has had a grave cost on the environment. Inherited from the USSR, Ukraine is home to a multitude of heavy chemical facilities, as well as nuclear institutions which have been strained under fighting. Moreover, the use of military equipment such as cruise missiles has left the countryside riddled with toxic waste. Therefore, it is worth asking the question: what have two years of war done to Ukraine’s environment?

One of the most prominent episodes thus far of the ongoing conflict involved the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the fall of 2022. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that fighting around the nuclear power plant had broken out and that Russian troops occupied the building. A small auxiliary building was hit by artillery shells and subsequently burned down. Despite continuous warnings from multiple intergovernmental organizations, fighting has continued to occur around the building, with a drone striking the power plant in April of this year. The plant is especially dangerous due to the volume of radioactive material it holds, which amounts to twenty times that which was held in Chernobyl during its infamous 1986 accident. Moreover, the plant contains a large volume of improperly stored spent radioactive waste, which, if hit by artillery, could release a fatal dose of radiation every three minutes. The rapid deterioration of the situation at Zaporizhzhia prompted the IAEA chief to remark at a recent UN conference that “we are getting dangerously close to a nuclear accident.” If one were to happen, its effects would be greater than those of Chernobyl or Fukushima, and mitigating damage would be nearly impossible given that the power plant is situated in the middle of an active warzone. 

Another serious environmental risk that has arisen during the war is that which stems from ammunition. As with any war, both sides of the conflict have relied heavily on cruise missiles. Cruise missiles are environmentally deadly due to the regions which they normally target: high-value industrial zones. These industrial zones often house large volumes of dangerous chemicals, which, during peacetime, are safe to handle due to being stored in secure containers. However, cruise missiles often burst through the containment walls of these secure containers and cause large atmospheric leaks, either leading to large explosions or, less dramatically, to the release of health-altering chemicals which cause havoc to the health of local ecosystems and humans. Cruise missiles are also extremely damaging to the environment due to the explosives contained within their shells, specifically TNT, which is known to cause extremely high levels of toxins to be dispersed in the area in which it exploded. TNT can enter the human body through food, water, air, and skin, and once it does it can cause liver failure, skin irritation and more. The release of sulfur is also of huge concern, with one Russian 122mm shell expelling roughly half a kilo of sulfur upon impact, which immediately burns its surroundings. If these land in fields, for example, it can damage crops and contaminate them, making them inedible. 
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Ultimately, weapons of war are meant to maximize the damage which they cause to whomever they are being used against, and a side effect is that this damage extends to the environment. Moreover, many of the weapons used in the conflict are decades old and contain extremely high levels of carcinogens and toxic chemicals which are no longer used in the manufacturing of goods. Simply put, the environment is not high on the list of a government’s worries during an active conflict, so it ultimately pays a huge toll on our actions.