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Dear
Friends!
On
September 19, the European Union approved a new
package of sanctions against Russia. In
particular, this package envisages a complete
ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas
into the EU starting in January 2027
(previously, the ban was planned to be
introduced the following year), as well as more
severe sanctions against intermediary companies,
Russia’s “shadow fleet”, and Russian companies
Rosneft and Gazprom Neft. Earlier, on September
9, the European Parliament noted Ukraine’s
progress towards European integration, while
also calling on the country not to lower its
ambitions. For example, it encouraged the
Ukrainian government to pay attention to
compliance with European environmental and
nature conservation standards. European MEPs
called for all possible support for initiatives
and organizations involved in analyzing the
environmental consequences of the war. In August
2025, the Ukrainian government presented a
2025-2026 action plan, aimed at further progress
toward European integration. Ukrainian
environmental organizations have critically
assessed it and noted areas for improvement.
Read more about these events and decisions, as
well as how Kamianska Sich National Park is
experiencing Russia’s full-scale invasion, in
our regular review:
Sanctions
against Russia will be effective when Ukraine
itself reduces its dependence on fossil fuels.
However, this is not an easy decision for a
country that has relied on the wealth of its
coal industry for many years. The abandonment of
fossil fuel production should not be accompanied
by the destruction and stagnation of coal-mining
regions and single-industry towns. To this end,
just transition programs are needed. Read about
just transition strategies being implemented in
Ukraine, despite the ongoing full-scale Russian
invasion, in Inga Pavliy’s article, part of our
series examining
Ukraine’s coal industry:
We
are also launching a series about how
environmental activists and organizations in
Eastern Europe are surviving amid war,
repression, funding cuts, and political
pressure. The first article focuses on the
situation in Belarus. In 2021, following the
protests in 2020, most environmental
organizations in the country were forced to shut
down. Some activists, experts, and journalists
were arrested, while others were forced to leave
Belarus to continue their work, and still others
went into hiding, refusing to engage in any
visible activity. Almost five years have passed,
and the situation in the country has not
improved. There are still over 1,200 recognized
political prisoners, among them environmental
activists. Read about how Belarusian
environmental organizations are coping with
repression, the war in Ukraine, and their own
challenges in the first article in this
series:
Another
serious problem this year for Ukraine was a
locust invasion. Recalling biblical legends, it
was even labeled an “Egyptian” invasion.
However, as expert Stanislav Vitter notes, we
are not talking about Egyptian locusts, but
migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria).
Apart from climate change, one factor
contributing to their abnormal spread is
Russia’s full-scale invasion. The destruction
and draining of the Kakhovka Reservoir created
favorable conditions for a spike in their
population. The lack of monitoring and
preventive measures, as well as any management
whatsoever in the occupied territories, allowed
the locusts to actively reproduce and spread
throughout Ukraine. If controls are not
implemented in the near future, next year could
also be disastrous. Read more in Viter’s
article:
Our
experts continue to analyze the consequences of
Russia’s demarché and its withdrawal from the
Ramsar Convention. A general trend in today’s
authoritarian governments abandoning
international environmental agreements could
have serious consequences. And although the
Russian government recently ordered increased
domestic protections for wetlands, this does not
mean that the situation has stabilized. Fifteen
wetlands in occupied territories in Ukraine
should continue to be protected under the Ramsar
Convention, but their situation remains
problematic. Eugene Simonov and Angelina
Davydova examine the
problem:
To
continue our high-quality work, we need your
support. Please consider a one-time or recurring
donation to UWEC Work
Group.
You
can read more about the environmental
consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine on our website, Twitter (X),
Facebook, Telegram and
Bluesky.
We
wish you strength, peace, and good
news!
Alexej
Ovchinnikov, Editor in Chief, UWEC Work
Group
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