The Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets reported on April 15, 2023, that the total estimate of the damage caused to the environment as a result of the war already exceeds 52.2 billion dollars, but it is not final because there is currently no access to mined and Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Source: The Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets
“We continue to record the damage caused to the environment. The Ministry of Environment has developed and approved special methods to calculate the damage. The State environmental inspectorate engaged in calculations based on these methods. The total estimate of the damage caused to the environment already exceeds 1.9 trillion hryvnias or more than 52.2 billion dollars,” informed the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
In addition, the amount of calculated damages may increase significantly following the introduction of certain changes to Ukrainian law.
“There is such a legal term as “ecosystem service” in the USA and European countries. With its consolidation in the Ukrainian legal field, we will be able to more accurately calculate the damage from the destruction of, for example, one tree. Then, the damage assessment will include the time needed to restore such a tree,” explained Ruslan Strilets.
See also: Russia’s war affects about 3 million hectares of forest in Ukraine
