The total for the Russian invasion’s environmental destruction so far amounts to the equivalent of 712 billion kroner, according to the Ukrainian government. In the Odessa region alone, over 200 criminal investigations linked to the war are currently underway.
– Our mission is to ensure that every war crime is documented and investigated so that everything can be brought up at the international level so that the aggressive power can be held accountable, says Volodymyr Fransevich, environmental prosecutor in Odessa.
He works at the special unit within the Prosecutor’s Office that investigates environmental war crimes. The unit, in turn, relies on the documentation collected by environmental inspectors such as Roman Halaitata and Yuri Djatjenko.
Dust explosion affects the Black Sea
They take water samples in the Black Sea along the coast of Odessa, and measure pollution in the ground. The pollution in the Black Sea comes from missile attacks on ships and ports in Odessa, but it is also about the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023.
All material collected is tested at the Environmental Inspectorate’s laboratories and then registered in a national database created as a result of the war. Finally, it lands with the unit at the Public Prosecutor’s Office for investigation.
They hope Russia will pay
The inspectors’ work can start as soon as the rescue work is finished at a place where a missile has struck. Given that Russia uses “double tap”, that they often send a second missile moments after the first one hits to cause maximum damage, the mission is fraught with risk.
– Well, it has happened that the air traffic alert went off while we were working and that we just managed to drive away a hundred meters before the next missile hit, says Jurij Djatjenko.
Do you think Russia will pay for this?
– We hope so, because someone has to take responsibility for it, says Roman Halaitata.
In the clip: Follow the environmental inspectors as they gather evidence in Odessa.