Environmental destruction in Donetsk: “Where there is war, we lose nature”

Status: 03/21/2023 5:50 p.m

Devastated national parks, heavy metals from munitions in the soil, pollutants in the water – Russia’s invasion is also destroying the ecological balance in Ukraine.

By Andrea Beer and Maria Kalus, ARD Studio Kiev

So far it has been spared from the war: the oldest oak tree in the Svyati Hory National Park in the Donetsk region. It is around 650 years old, almost thirty meters high, six meters in circumference and stands in a mined forest. That’s why Serhiy Natrus can’t look after the oak tree. But at least the head of the ecology department of the Donetsk regional administration knows that the most famous tree in the area is unharmed. “Several organizations have taken satellite images that show that the oak tree has not been burned. Overall, 80 percent of the national park has already been hit by shells, and around 18,000 hectares of forest have been damaged by fire.”

Forests and steppes devastated

Natrus and his team are currently witnessing the decline of their years of environmental education, research and conservation work. Oak and pine forests burned black, rocket parts, destroyed combat equipment or burned-out cars line the path through the national park to Sviatohirsk.

The place around 50 kilometers north of Kramatorsk used to be a popular starting point for trips to the national park, which was one of the most beautiful in the region. From the beginning of June 2022 until the recapture by the Ukrainian army in mid-September, Russian troops occupied the area around Svyatohirsk.

Now many forests and steppes are devastated, mined or inaccessible due to Russian occupation or fighting. Measuring stations and monitoring systems used by nature conservationists have been destroyed or had to be dismantled. And so there is a lack of current data on pollutants in the soil, air, rivers, lakes or groundwater.

Serhiy Natrus is the head of the Ecology Department of the Donetsk Region Administration. He estimates that it takes four decades for nature to regenerate.

Image: Andrea Beer / ARD Studio Kiev

Destroyed industrial, waste and sewage treatment plants

The Donetsk region has numerous protected areas with steppe, meadow and swamp vegetation and a remarkable variety of plants and species. The famous oak grows in one of the oldest oak forests in eastern Ukraine – in a region where there is bitter fighting.

“Where there is war, we lose nature,” states Natrus. Because destroyed dams, factories, waterworks, biogas, waste and sewage treatment plants also cause significant problems. “Exploded munitions contaminate the ground with heavy metals,” explains Natrus. “Forests are damaged and without treatment plants, sewage flows straight into rivers. Many animals have disappeared and for large animals like elk or deer, mines and trip hazards are the biggest problem. Another blow was that the invasion coincided with the breeding season.”

The river Severskyi Donets supplies the entire Donbass with drinking water. Nitrogen, petroleum, pesticides and heavy metals have now been detected in its water.

Image: Andrea Beer / ARD Studio Kiev

Pesticides and heavy metals in drinking water

The water is also contaminated. According to the regional environmental authority, more pollutants were detected in Siwerskyj Donets after the major Russian invasion. The river supplies drinking water to the entire Donbass. Now, among other things, nitrogen, petroleum, pesticides and heavy metals have been found, according to a list of environmental experts on site.

Coal is being mined in the Donetsk region, and there are fears that uncontrolled flooding of hastily closed mines could pollute groundwater and soil with mine water or dangerous substances from overburden heaps.

The Svyatohirsk monastery, which was also damaged in the fighting, stands on a chalk cliff above the Siwerskyi Donets. Down on the shore, Natrus lets his gaze wander. The bridge is only half over the river. The Ukrainian army is said to have blown it up during fighting against Russian troops. Due to the destruction of water infrastructure, such as the dams, the level of the river has dropped by 1.5 meters.

The shot-up administration of the Svyati Hory National Park. Armored tracked vehicles and rocket launchers lie among the ruins of the buildings for research, seeds, afforestation or the small farm. The scientific department now works mainly online.

Image: Andrea Beer / ARD Studio Kiev

Regeneration of nature takes decades

A few kilometers outside of Svyatohirsk, the site of the regional environmental administration lies in ruins. The last snow crunches under the feet of Serhiy Natrus and Andriy Suyakov, Deputy Director of the Kleban-Byk Protected Area. They stand depressed in front of the shot-up administration of the Swjati Hory National Park.

Armored tracked vehicles and multiple rocket launchers lie among the ruins of the buildings for research, seed, afforestation or the small farm. In March 2022, a rocket also hit the Kramatorsk office. Fortunately, no one was killed, but windows, doors, computers, furniture and documents are damaged, says Andriy Suyakov: “Our scientific department now works mainly online. We research and study satellite images. Nature will probably heal a little by itself.” But now, above all, mine clearance is important.

A tall observation tower rises lonely above the destroyed center of the Svyati Hory National Park. Its 360-degree cameras could detect smoke within a 30-kilometer radius, preventing forest fires. Now artillery fire has eaten its way mercilessly through nature. It could take four decades for her to regenerate, Natrus estimates.

Suyakov has chosen to see it this way: “80 years ago, our grandfathers restored these forests after World War II – and we must do the same now.”

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