Environmental Effects of Russia's War Against Ukraine: The Kakhovka Dam destruction

Besides all the human suffering and the massive destruction of populated areas and infrastructure, the Russian war against Ukraine has also led to colossal damage to the ecology and the environment in the country. The scale of this devastation can hardly be estimated so far. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on 6 June 2023 was the single most visible environmental war crime with vast consequences not only for the irreversibly damaged ecosystems up- and downstream but for the entire wider region, its economy, and European ecology as well. Large shares of agricultural land cannot be irrigated any longer. There was a huge lack of freshwater as its supply depended on the dam as well. The loss of the electric capacity of the dam’s hydropower plant destabilizes the supply all over South Ukraine. The decrease of the lake’s water level poses a danger to the reliability of the cooling for the Zaporizhia Nuclear power station.

The US based non-profit “Project Expedite Justice” and the Ukrainian NGO “Truth Hounds” have published the report “Submerged” on the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam and its impacts on the residents, the ecosystems, the agriculture and its implications for international justice. Researchers and authors of the study will present main findings and discuss further perspectives for the region. 

At the same time, the event kicks off the broader “Ukrainians for Ecology” campaign of the Berlin based NGO “Vitsche”, aiming to draw more attention to environmental effects of the war in general and to create and spread expertise.

Speakers

• Kateryna Demerza, Curator of the project Ukrainians for Ecology, Vitsche
• Pascal Turlan, Legal and Program Director at Project Expedite Justice, Adjunct Professor at ScPo
• Shaun Burnie, senior nuclear specialist with Greenpeace Germany
• Myroslava Markova, Junior Investigator and Documenter at Project Expedite Justice is the author of the chapter of the report describing the economic impact of the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam
• Andriy Bilenkyi (online), Agricultural expert at Project Expedite Justice,
• Roman Koval, Head of Research at Truth Hounds
• Andrii Latsyba, a Lawyer at Truth Hounds
• Maria Sahaidak, Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security

Moderation: Robert Sperfeld, Heinrich Böll Stiftung

Language: English with translation into German

Further Readings: The Report “Submerged”

Contact:

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung:
Anna Antonina Łysiak
E lysiak@boell.de

Vitsche e.V.
Ernest Dmitriev
E e.dmitriev@vitsche.org 

Your Participation in the event

» Participation on site
at the the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Conference Center, Schumannstr. 8, 10117 Berlin

Please register in advance. Unfortunately, the number of seats for this event are limited. If we are at capacity, the conversation will be transmitted via video to other rooms.

» Livestream
Alternatively, you can follow the event via the livestream without registering.