Environmental damages in Ukraine due to Russia’s aggression reach $70 billion

The environmental damage to Ukraine from Russia’s full-scale aggression is already estimated at over $70 billion. Three million hectares of forests have been destroyed, more than 6,500 environmental crimes have been recorded, and 180 million tons of CO₂ have been emitted, states the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Svitlana Hrynchuk, in an interview with Forbes.

According to her, since the beginning of the full-scale war, 3 million hectares of Ukrainian forests have been destroyed, and nearly a third of the country’s territory has been mined.

Currently, the Ministry of Environmental Protection estimates the ecological damage of the war at approximately $70 billion — and this is likely “just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Including the loss of natural resources, this number could be much, much bigger,” Hrynchuk noted.

Additionally, as the minister explained, Russia has committed over 6,500 environmental crimes.

The war has also resulted in emissions of more than 180 million tons of CO₂ equivalent. The displacement of more than 6 million Ukrainian citizens to other countries has caused an additional 3.3 million tons of CO₂ emissions.

Hrynchuk emphasized that Ukraine is determined to hold Russia accountable for all environmental crimes. According to her, Russia is currently seen as an anti-ecological destroyer, inclined to predatory domination over both Ukraine and the natural world.

In October, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that Ukraine’s environmental system had been severely impacted by Russia’s large-scale military aggression. At that time, the damage to the environment was estimated at $65 billion.

Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada stated that the post-war recovery program for Ukraine must necessarily take the environmental factor into account.