Almost all of the fighting in the eight month war on Ukraine has taken place within its borders, and the environmental damage is mounting. A staggering 6 million Ukrainians are without safe drinking water, and 692,000 acres of forest have been destroyed according to the World Wildlife Fund. Pollution caused by toxic munitions, destroyed fuel dumps and vehicles will last for decades. The cost of cleaning up the damage is emmense. President Zelensky has demanded reperations from Russia to help pay the costs of Putin's unprovoked invasion.
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| AP: destroy fuel dump near Kalynivka |
Residents of the village of Demydiv saw their drinking water turn cloudy, taste contaminated and leaving a residue on their cooking pots and pans. The village was under Russian control until April when the Russians failed to take Kyiv and withdrew. Ukrainian authorities began shipping in fresh water, but those shipments stopped in October when the tanker truck broke down, forcing the inhabitants to resume consuming their polluted water. Russian forces, stymied on the battlefield, have resorted to attacks on civilian infrastructure such as power plants and waterworks. Collateral damage also occurs regularly. A pond used for recreation as well as a fish farm before the war, is now polluted by fuel oil after a dump near the village of Kalynivka eighteen miles southwest of Kyiv was hit by a Russian missile. Dead fish now litter the pond's surface.
Massive fires started by artillery fire have polluted the atmosphere. A product of combustion, nitrogen dioxide readings have increased in areas west and southwest of Kyiv. Direct exposure can cause skin irritation and burns, while chronic exposure can cause repiratory problems. Fires have impacted this year's crop harvest and killed livestock. Ukrainians have demonstrated they are a resilient people, but the multiple adversities they now face in the war have taken a heavy emotional and psychological toll. The government has provided assistance where it can, but resourece are stretched to the maximum for the war effort. Dimydev residents were given $540 each, to compensate for the flooding cause by the demolition of a dam to hinder the invaders. But that modest amount does not compensate families who have lost everything including the health of their land.
