By Olha Chepil | 2025-11-12

When the Kakhovka Dam in the Ukrainian Kherson Oblast exploded, it unleashed an ecological catastrophe. Within hours, a reservoir the size of a small sea vanished, taking with it cities, wildlife and an entire ecosystem that had sustained life for decades.

Now, Ukraine is among the first countries in the world to systematically document the environmental toll of war, evidence it hopes will one day hold Russia accountable.

A terrorist attack

On the dry, cracked bed of what used to be the Kakhovka Reservoir, ecologist Vadim Manyuk walks carefully over brittle shells and scorched reeds. A year and a half ago, this spot lay beneath a man-made lake stretching more than 200 kilometers.

"The destruction of a dam of that scale is a colossal terrorist attack directed against Ukrainians," Manyuk, an associate professor of geography at Honchar Dnipro National University, told Kontur.

The June 6, 2023, detonation by Russian forces drained the entire reservoir in hours, sweeping away towns, villages, animals and people.

"This man-made disaster caused not only people and the economy to suffer, but also the ecosystem itself," Manyuk said. "Trillions of mollusks, which had purified the water for decades as the Kakhovka Reservoir's natural filter, died."

The damage rippled across the region. Freshwater species perished when salinity levels plummeted, while marine life downstream struggled to survive the sudden shift. Flooding killed dozens, destroyed homes and left hundreds of hectares of farmland contaminated. According to the United Nations, at least 33 people died in Ukrainian-controlled territory alone, with more than 40 still missing.

Life returns

Today, the former reservoir is newly blanketed by a natural willow forest that scientists say is unique even beyond Ukraine. Wild boars, roe deer, foxes have appeared, and birds and amphibians have returned.

"I would not be incorrect to say that this is now the largest monolithic willow forest in Europe. It is in its early stages of development, and that is why it is especially valuable and special to us," said Manyuk.

Research is currently underway at the former reservoir. Ecologists are studying the damage from the dam explosion and the new life that has returned.

At present, Ukraine has many such places.

Researchers are working in the steppe and coastal ecosystems of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as in the deltas and estuaries of the Black and Azov Seas.

Scientists study the soil degradation, water pollution, and biodiversity loss in protected areas.

"I can speak for myself: Ecologists definitely don't have time to record everything and are physically unable to do so," said Manyuk. "At least a third, if not half, of all the crimes go unnoticed. Because there are a huge number of minor violations that need to be addressed quickly."

Local enthusiasts and people living near these areas also play an important role.

Despite the danger and difficulties in accessing affected areas, they continue to watch for changes in nature and pass on the collected data to researchers.

"If a missile lands somewhere, an ecologist needs to go there with a prosecutor and immediately draw up a statement. But in my experience, this almost never happens. And what can we say about the line of contact, where new crimes are committed every minute. How is all of this being recorded there?" asked Manyuk.

Destruction register

The register of environmental losses records every crater and every spill as evidence for a future international tribunal.

"The State Environmental Inspectorate is recording and assessing the environmental damage caused by combat, and is also creating a unified register of losses," Elena Krivoruchkina, a parliament member and Deputy Chair of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, told Kontur.

Ukraine has developed and approved seven methods for assessing impacts on forests, soils, the atmosphere, nature reserves and other areas.

"I am constantly reaching out to international partners, scientists, and the expert community to improve these methods," said Krivoruchkina.

Each instance of contamination is recorded according to the following procedure: Once contamination is discovered, samples are taken, laboratory tests are performed, and the damage is then calculated according to approved formulas.

To accelerate the process, EcoThreat, an online service that allows users to record destruction in real time, launched in 2023.

"We became pioneers," said Krivoruchkina.

The Ukrainian system uses satellite data and remote sensing. According to Krivoruchkina, it is a body of evidence for a future international court.

"When it comes to the term 'environmental war crimes', it doesn't exist at the legislative level. But all the damage done to nature as a result of the war is an environmental war crime," she said.

The Ukrainian State Environmental Inspectorate estimates that the environmental damage from the war since 2022 is almost UAH 6 trillion (approximately 136 billion euros). This figure includes only documented cases. Experts say the actual scale of destruction and pollution is much higher.

Scars across the land

According to Anna Kuzemko, a Doctor of Biological Sciences and a leading researcher at the Kholodny Institute of Botany of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, the extent of the damage cannot be accurately assessed: many areas are inaccessible, and existing methods do not reflect the reality of the war.

"War destroys nature comprehensively. Trenches and fortifications change the landscape, disrupt the soil cover, and destroy plants and animals. The problem is that we don't yet have a single methodology capable of assessing the entire range of destruction," said Kuzemko, who is also a member of the supervisory board of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group.

She told Kontur that damage must be understood through the lens of restoration. In other words, how much will it cost to restore the ecosystem to its original state.

"It is necessary to consider not only plants and animals, but also the geomorphological structure, soil cover, and the entire system of relationships in nature. And the most important thing is to understand how to use these tools for a real restoration," Kuzemko said.

Kuzemko's team is studying Ukraine's steppe ecosystems, often seen as "just grass," though they cover 40% of the country and host many Red Book species.

Scientists are conducting field research in Kamyanska Sich National Nature Park and Sviati Hory National Park, where they are documenting the impact of combat -- from fortifications to craters and fires.

The full-scale Russian invasion has inflicted losses of over 537 billion hryvnias (more than €12 billion) on Svyati Gory National Park.

The photographs and coordinates are evidence for future international trials. But Kuzemko acknowledged that those trials are still a long way off.

"We cannot estimate the true scale of losses, as many areas are inaccessible. We use satellite images, but even they often have limited quality. A true assessment will be possible only after de-occupation and the end of the war," she said.