Environmental damage caused by Russia’s invasion reached $57B

Damage to the environment caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reached $57 billion.

Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets stated this at a meeting of the international working group on the environmental impacts of the war, Ukrinform reports with reference to the ministry’s press service.

"Over the past 2.5 months, the amount of damage to the environment has increased by almost $1.5 billion. It totals $57 billion. And these are far from the final numbers," the report says.

Read also: Kakhovka HPP blast: Gov’t allocating additional UAH 7B for water pipeline construction

The minister noted that work is currently underway on the development and implementation of a comprehensive plan for Ukraine’s ecological recovery from the consequences of the war.

As reported, almost 2,500 cases of environmental damage have already been recorded in Ukraine. The Prosecutor General's Office is investigating almost 200 facts of environmental war crimes.

Photo: Ministry of Agrarian Policy