Russia is destroying Ukraine’s environment. World leaders must act now

Playing with explosives at the Zaporizhzhia NPP threatens an ecological disaster — for Ukraine and all of Europe.

Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who led the team that developed the world’s first nuclear weapon, quoted ancient Hindu scriptures to illustrate his conflicted feelings about the power his research had unleashed: “I am now Death, destroyer of worlds,” he said. In his final years, Oppenheimer longed for a future “without nation-states armed for war and, above all, a world without war.”

But there was another problem that Oppenheimer became acutely aware of while reading the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient text he turned to after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in 1945. Humans now have the power to destroy the world they live in.

It is impossible to get used to the war and death brought by a state with much greater resources: Ukrainians will never forget the human losses they had to suffer while fighting to save their homeland. But Ukraine is also faced with the destruction of the environment and nature on such a scale that their consequences will spread far beyond its borders. It is difficult to estimate the scale of these losses, but we must be aware of the devastating impact.

Russia deliberately targeted Ukraine’s environment: its rivers, forests and fields. Many of Ukraine’s nature reserves — their animal and marine life, water and impressive biodiversity — have suffered terrible damage and pollution. Toxins enter the environment from damaged industrial enterprises and infrastructure facilities. Global food security is under threat. The world cannot afford to ignore this growing environmental threat.

Nuclear pollution knows no borders

The huge threat to Ukraine’s environment was especially exacerbated in June 2023 due to the terrible accident at the huge dam in Nova Kakhovka, which contained one of the largest reservoirs in Europe. This was no accidental accident: the dam was under Russian control when an internal explosion occurred in the pass, which completely destroyed its concrete foundation. This caused a catastrophic flood that destroyed more than 40 towns and villages and one of the world’s most valuable agricultural regions. Tons of oil spilled into the Dnipro River. A huge number of mines fell into the river and the Black Sea, which led to the leakage of toxic substances.

The station was captured by Russia in 2022 and remains under its control. Ukrainian intelligence indicates that the Russians mined the plant either to destroy it before they were kicked out, or to set up an incident that they would try to blame on Ukraine.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited Zaporizhzhia in June and called the situation “extremely unstable.” Playing with explosives at the Zaporizhzhia NPP threatens an ecological disaster — for Ukraine and all of Europe. Nuclear pollution knows no borders.

What to expect in the event of an explosion of the Zaporizhzhya NPP

Russia will be held accountable. Both the International Criminal Court and the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine are investigating these actions as war crimes. Both Ukrainian and Russian law qualify some of these crimes as ecocide—an apt term for these dire times: “mass destruction of flora and fauna, poisoning of air or water resources, and any other actions that may cause an ecological catastrophe,” as defined by the law of Ukraine.

The day will come when the war will end and environmental security will become one of the key priorities for building a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, as outlined in President Zelenskyi’s Peace Formula. In the ten-point peace plan, considerable emphasis is placed on environmental protection. The office of the President of Ukraine has created an international working group, which includes high-ranking Ukrainian officials and well-known international figures, whose task is to help Ukraine and the international community in forming a vision of how to solve these issues. In fact, the national security advisers of key global players discussed the path to peace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month.

The reconstruction of Ukraine and its economy should aim at achieving a zero level of greenhouse gas emissions and complying with the principles of carbon neutrality. Environmental recovery goals will require strong support from the international community. But urgent action is needed now. Actions to prevent further environmental disaster or minimize damage must become a priority—even in times of war.

It is impossible to get used to the horrors of war, death and destruction that Ukrainians face every day – but we must do everything we can to prevent a further environmental catastrophe, which could later have unpredictable consequences for the region and the whole world.

“It is quite obvious that the whole world is going to hell,” declared Oppenheimer at the height of the Cold War, but here in Kyiv we have not given up hope. The best chance the world has of avoiding hell depends on all of us trying to do at least something to prevent it.