Environmental damage caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine exceeds UAH 1.9T – Strilets
The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets in an interview with ArmyInform, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“We continue to record the damage caused to the environment. The ministry has developed and approved special methods for calculating losses. Calculations based on these methods are carried out by the Ukrainian State Environmental Inspectorate. The total estimates of environmental damage have already exceeded UAH 1.9 trillion, or more than USD 52.2 billion. This is a huge sum! However, it is not final, because we still do not have access to the mined and occupied areas,” Strilets told.
Additionally, according to Strilets, the amount of calculated damages may significantly increase after making certain amendments to Ukraine’s legislation.
In particular, the ministry has established a working group to develop relevant amendments and introduce the notion of ‘ecosystem services’ in Ukraine.
“I have agreed on assistance with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Monica Medina. We have had productive meetings on the sidelines of the UN Water Conference. To begin with, we will take the model of ecosystem services that has already been implemented in other countries and see how it can be integrated into our legislation,” Strilets explained.
A reminder that, according to Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets, nearly 5 million Ukrainians do not have access to drinking water, and another 70% of the population of the country may be left without this resource as a result of Russian attacks.
Photo: ArmyInform
