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Dear
friends!
We live in
a difficult time, a time when it seems as if
governments have lost their minds and refuse to
see our changing climate. There is probably not
a single country that is not rolling back some
of its environmental and nature conservation
policies. It is thus all the more critical to
support each other and continue this important
work.
We are
pleased to share some exciting news with you.
At the start of this year, we registered
a branch of our organization in
Ukraine. This development will enable
us to participate officially in domestic efforts
to overcome the war’s environmental consequences
as well as to advocate for the nation’s green
recovery. Read on to learn about a new way for
you to participate in our work!
While
Ukraine remains at the heart of UWEC Work Group,
our initiative includes the analysis of the
transboundary impacts of the war. Over the
course of January and February, UWEC expert
Eugene Simonov spoke with over
20 international news organizations about the
role of the “shadow fleet” in the catastrophic
mazut (a Russian blend of heavy fuel oil) spill
in December 2024 that created an environmental
disaster in the Black Sea. Read more about the
shadow fleet and this spill:
The
spill’s consequences are a significant threat to
Black Sea ecosystems. Numerous deaths of marine
mammals (porpoises and dolphins) and birds have
already been confirmed, while the long-term
impacts to fish and other ichthyofauna is
difficult to predict. The spill is already
harming the region’s protected areas, including
Ramsar Convention sites. It is not expected that
the Russian government will take correct actions
to limit the effects of the disaster. Spill
pollution has already reached the shores of
other Black Sea states, and as seawater
temperatures rise, mazut slicks will once again
appear on the surface and pollute the entire
Black Sea coastline. Read more about the
environmental consequences of the oil
spill:
The Kerch mazut spill is
not the first event to cause direct and indirect
harm to the Black Sea. While the sabotage of the
Kakhovka hydropower dam occurred in June 2023,
analyses of its impacts are only now becoming
available. In this UWEC Work Group issue, we
examine the limited field research that is now
underway behind the front lines in Ukraine, with
the left bank of the Dnipro River inaccessible
to researchers as a result of Russian
occupation. We will only see the full picture
after the war ends and lands are freed from
occupation. UWEC expert Oleksiy Vasyliuk
examines how the Kakhovka reservoir’s
silts spread during the June 2023 flood and
discussed an initial analysis of soil pollution
as a result of the dam’s
destruction:
Understanding the
development and implementation of compensation
mechanisms for war crimes, including
environmental crimes, is one of today’s most
complicated challenges. Legal experts hope that
this process will enable work to facilitate
international recognition of ecocide. Read more
about this and other research in our traditional
monthly review:
Understanding these
environmental processes and even more so the
implementation of “green recovery” programs will
require significant financial investment.
Ukraine’s war-torn economy will certainly not be
able to shoulder the entire burden, and it will
require the help of allies and partners.
International American programs had a large
stake in the country’s recovery initiatives.
However, the Trump administration has ended a
great many of them. UWEC journalist
Viktoria Hubareva examines how
the end of financial aid from the United States
has affected environmental initiatives in
Ukraine:
Friends, today we
welcome financial support in order to continue
and expand our initiative. If you are able, we
are excited to warmly invite you
to make a one-time or
monthly gift via our website. Our
solidarity today determines whether Ukraine and
the region will have a “green future” after the
end of the war.
You can find more
coverage of the environmental consequences of
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on our
website, on
Twitter
(X), Bluesky, Facebook and
Telegram.
We wish
you strength and peace!
Alexej Ovchinnikov,
editor of UWEC Work Group
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