Dear Friends!
Some of the environmental consequences of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine are talked about often and loudly. Others go unnoticed, but in the long run, those can be much more dangerous, for example, the introduction of invasive species in occupied territories. Taking advantage of ecosystems destroyed and disturbed by shelling and combat and with no natural enemies, the “aliens” species quickly capture territories, creating springboards for their further spread. Thus, the war is not only military in nature, but also biological. Read about this invasion in an article by Natalia Pashkevich, PhD in Biology and senior researcher at the Department of Geobotany and Ecology at the Institute of Botany (National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine).
Today, data has already begun to be collected on the environmental impacts of the military invasion. Unfortunately, significant territories of Ukraine are still under occupation. The first expeditions to study these impacts specifically on protected areas occurred September-December last year. Katerina Polyanska of the NGO “Environment. People. Law” participated in several such expeditions and shared her observations of the aftermath of retreating Russian troops on national parks with UWEC Work Group.
In November, media published the shocking news of the Russian soldiers stringing up hamsters. Small mammals are at particular risk during the invasion, and a number of these species are listed in Ukraine’s Red Book for at-risk species. At the same time, most of the hostilities are occurring in eastern Ukraine, on steppe landscapes, a unique and important biotope home to numerous rare rodent species. Mikhail Rusin, a researcher at the Kyiv Zoo and the Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, writes about what is happening to small mammals in Ukraine today and the threats posed by the large-scale invasion.
With numerous recent deaths, Caspian seals are also being called victims of the war. In November 2022 more than 2,000 individual seals were found dead on the shorelines of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan in the Black and Azov Seas. Our expert Eugene Simonov assembled the most common explanations and concluded that, if not directly, then at least indirectly, the war is decreasing chances of survival of these unique marine mammals. As with many other environmental processes in Russia, environmental conservation activities in the northern Caspian Sea have been put on hold due to the invasion.
Another rare species endangered by Russia’s militaristic ambitions is the polar bear. Opening protected area to military exercises on Wrangel Island are threatening to destroy critical habitat for this species. The island serves as the world’s largest natural nursery for young polar bears. Eugene Simonov examines this situation more closely.
The environmental consequences of the invasion of Ukraine are being discussed around the world, including at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Although the war has yet to become a key issue at such events, it is clear that leaders are keeping it in mind when discussing economics. We live in times of interconnected global crises, including climate change. Guest writer Vera Kuzmina writes about how both military conflicts and direct lobbying for fossil fuels only create additional problems for the planet and humanity.
We continue to track the war’s environmental consequences on our Website, Twitter, and Facebook.
Wishing you strength and peace!
Alexei Ovchinnikov, Editor
UWEC Work Group