1000 days of war: Ministry of Environment named the approximate estimate of environmental damage

During the 1000 days of the war, the environmental damage caused by military actions is estimated at approximately 71 billion dollars, said the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svitlana Grynchuk during the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP29), which is ongoing in Baku.

“During the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation committed more than 6,500 crimes against the environment. More than six million Ukrainians had to seek temporary protection in various European countries, which led to an additional 3.3 million tons of CO2 emissions. The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the war is 180 million tons,” Grynchuk said.

According to her, due to hostilities and forest fires, the greenhouse gas absorption potential of Ukrainian forests decreased by 1.7 million tons during the almost three years of the war. In general, 3 million hectares of forests have already been destroyed due to the war, and the territory of Ukraine contaminated by explosive objects is 139,000 square meters. km is twice the area of ​​Azerbaijan.

“Even in a peaceful European city, the air may contain traces of a Russian missile explosion. Combustion products thrown into the air as a result of Russian missile attacks have already reached Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Serbia, Croatia and Poland,” the minister emphasized.