Ukrainian environmentalists tracking possible Russian eco crimes

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shattered millions of lives, but environmental activists also worry the ecological damage to their country will be irreversible.

"It's actually a huge risk for the whole world," said Evgenia Zasiadko who heads up the environmental crimes team at Kyiv-based EcoAction, a non-governmental organization that pushes for green policy in Ukraine.

Zasiadko has escaped Ukraine, finding a route from Kharkiv to safety in a country she is not disclosing due to security concerns after enduring days of heavy shelling and airstrikes.

She's keeping watch from a distance, determined to hold Russia accountable for environmental damage in Ukraine.

From her temporary home, she and a network of 15 scattered across Eastern Europe are keeping close tabs on what they say are environmental crimes committed by Russia, which they are defining as anything that causes serious pollution and harm to the ecosystem and people.

So far they've logged 144 alleged environmental crimes using open-source intelligence, verified video and witness reports. Zasiadko says in Eastern Ukraine she expects there are many more incidents not yet on their radar.

For example, Zasiadko pointed to numerous videos and pictures collected by the investigators of fuel repositories belching black plumes of smoke into the air after allegedly being hit by missiles or set on fire.

"It's damage to industrial buildings. It's energy safety and nuclear safety. It's damage to ecosystems and damage to the marine ecosystem because there have been a few ships that have been bombed," she said.

Propellants, explosives and heavy metals used in weapons contain many contaminants including some carcinogenic compounds which can scatter in the air and leach into soil and water with serious environmental impacts, according to a report from Defence Research and Development Canada. 

"We collect the numbers of tanks, the numbers of bombs and everything that is coming to Ukraine from military actions," she said.

The sheer number of possible military contaminants and environmental repercussions is another one of the reasons Zasiadko says Ukraine needs the war to end as quickly as possible, and not just for her country's sake but for neighbouring Russia as well.

"Do they have enough understanding what kind of harm it could bring not only to Ukraine, but to Russia also?" she said.

Zasiadko fears the environmental impacts of the war will displace a second wave of refugees in Ukraine due to contaminated soil and water.

"The territory would not be possible to live, to use their water, to grow any plants or vegetables because it would be a high risk for their health in the long term," she said.