“The environment has no borders”, Ukraine speaks on russia’s damage at UN Water Conference

At the UN 2023 Water Conference, Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets spoke of the environmental damage caused by russia's war in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian delegation headed by Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets participated in the UN 2023 Water Conference, which took place in New York on March 22-24, 2023.

Speaking at the UN events, he tried to convey to the general public that the damage caused by russia's war in Ukraine affects the whole world, because the environment has no borders.

In October 2022, russia destroyed and opened a number of locks within Kakhovka HPP on the Dnipro River. As a result, Ukraine is losing thousands of cubic meters of freshwater on a daily basis, which may have catastrophic consequences.

The Kakhov reservoir provides irrigation for the fields, so Ukraine will not be able to harvest a proper yield, the minister said, explaining that "it is these territories that are important for the food security of the world."

In general, 88% of Ukraine's irrigated areas are now under Russian occupation.

According to Strilets, the amount of damage caused to Ukraine's water resources by Russian armed aggression has exceeded $2.5 billion.

Hostilities are the cause of pollution of surface and ground waters. The exceeding concentrations of mercury, copper, zinc and manganese were detected in such rivers as the Dniester, Dnieper, and Siverskyi Donets.

"Heavy metals, oil products, toxic and dangerous compounds contaminate water due to explosions, missile strikes, accidents and fires at oil depots," Strilets told.

Marine mammals are injured by underwater explosions in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

"We have documented about 120 dolphin deaths, where we have access to the coast and can monitor. But, we know that there may be thousands of them," Strilets said.

The satellite imagery shows significant oil pollution in the sea area. In some places, oil patches are hundreds of kilometers long.

Strilets emphasized that the Ukrainian side is taking measures to document russian crimes in order to collect reparations from the aggressor state.

According to Strilets, russia attempts to destroy aspirations towards sustainable development not only for Ukraine but the whole world.

Nevertheless, Ukraine continues to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, Strilets added. In cooperation with European partners, Ukraine is implementing sustainable water resource management, even amid the war

russian armed aggression only delayed but did not stop Ukraine's efforts towards sustainable development and implementing the relevant global goals, the minister stressed.

About 5 million Ukrainians do not have access to drinking water, and another 70% of the population of our country may be left without water as a result of russian shelling.

The conference on water problems is the first such event of the UN in the last half a century, designed to encourage countries to work together to solve the problems of water consumption and the climate crisis.