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Dear
Friends!
The main
events in June this year were conferences and
presentations of research on the environmental
consequences of the Kakhovka hydropower plant
dam’s sabotage in 2023. The good news is that
the short-term consequences were not as
catastrophic as experts had feared. No dust
storms developed, desalination and blooming
persisted for just a few months in the Black
Sea, and local species, such as willow and
poplar, have grown on the bed of the former
Kakhovka reservoir instead of
invasive plant species. However, the disaster
itself raised two important questions that
remain relevant for the environment in Ukraine
and the region today: how to hold the
aggressor accountable for this ecocide and how
the country will be restored once the war is
over. Read more about the conferences and
the results of the research dedicated to the
anniversary of the destruction of the Kakhovka
dam in our traditional
review:
Over
the past year, Ukrainian scientists have
organized more than five expeditions to the bed
of the former Kakhovka Reservoir. The research
was conducted in close proximity to the
frontline, so it has not yet been possible to
carry out a full analysis. In addition, there is
no data from the left bank of the Dnieper, which
was severely damaged during the flooding. We
also should not forget that while the war
continues, threats of new disasters and
pollution remain. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power
plant, located on the shore of Kakhovka
Reservoir, still stands in the danger zone. In
this issue you can familiarize yourself with the
preliminary results of expeditions, results give
hope of a green future for
Ukraine:
Some
experts have described the issue of water
resources as a cornerstone of this war, citing
the need to guarantee water supply to the North
Crimean Canal as one possible reason for
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, the war has not resolved the “water
issue”, and new research shows that with proper
management and modernization of the agricultural
and infrastructure sectors, Crimea is
capable of independently meeting its water
needs. We hope that this will happen
when the peninsula is liberated. UWEC
expert Eugene Simonov explores Crimea’s
problematic stewardship of water
resources:
Discussion
of the issue of Ukraine’s green recovery
continued in June at the Ukraine
Recovery Conference. Unfortunately,
military needs are still a top priority for the
country, and for now Kyiv views the solution to
the acute issue of energy security through an
industrial prism: specifically, through the
construction of nuclear and hydroelectric power
plants, which it sees as compromise “green”
solutions. Nevertheless, environmental
organizations continue to advocate for more
ambitious goals in post-war restoration projects
for Ukraine. Read about the conference’s
outcomes in this article by Ukrainian journalist
Viktoria Hubareva:
War upends
the natural order, forcing living organisms to
change their habits and adapt. This primarily
concerns migratory species, such as birds.
Destruction of long-term nesting areas,
disruptions to civil aviation, shelling, and
military activity affect almost all bird
species, including birds of prey, forcing them
to change their behavior and habitats. This all
comes with environmental consequences,
disrupting local ecosystems. Read more about the
war’s impact on raptor populations in Ukraine in
this article by Viktoria Hubareva and Stanislav
Viter:
You can
explore other stories and news related to the
consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine on our
website,
on
Twitter (X), Facebook, and
Telegram.
We wish
you strength and peace!
Alexei Ovchinnikov,
Editor, UWEC Work
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