Russia has committed 2,500 environmental crimes in Ukraine since February 2022

Russia has committed a total of 2,500 environmental crimes in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Source: Ukrinform news agency, citing Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, during the United for Justice.United for Nature conference

Quote from Svyrydenko: "The war continues, and Russia continues to commit crimes, inflicting damage [on Ukraine] every single day [...] A total of 2,500 environmental crimes have been documented." 

Details: Svyrydenko stressed that each day of the war costs Ukraine approximately €120 million in losses.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said that Russia has to pay for the damage it has inflicted on the Ukrainian environment.

Quote from Kostin: "We all agree that the Russian Federation as a state has to pay for the damage and losses this war has inflicted on Ukraine’s natural environment."

Details: Kostin stressed that it will be very difficult for Ukraine to guarantee that these losses will be adequately compensated without confiscating Russian assets.

He said Ukrainian law enforcement agencies were establishing standards for investigating and prosecuting those responsible for environmental crimes as war crimes and those responsible for the crime of ecocide.

"We hope that this crime (ecocide – ed.) will be considered an international crime. We hope it will be included in the Rome Statute. We know that this is important," the Prosecutor General said.

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