Ecocide: Ukraine assesses environmental damage from the war.

The Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Svitlana Hrynchuk, reported that as of September 2024, more than 6,000 environmental crimes had been recorded, and the damage is estimated at at least 2.6 - 2.7 trillion UAH.

"More than 6,000 different cases have already been recorded. According to estimates, this is about 2.6-2.7 trillion hryvnias. The damage caused to the environment is one of the largest in monetary terms, as it includes a large number of destroyed agricultural lands, forests of conservation and industrial value, as well as polluted water resources," Hrynchuk said in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to her, fires are observed daily on hundreds of hectares of forests, for the extinguishing of which it is impossible to use conventional methods due to the presence of mines. The number of forests with mines is estimated at 0.5 million hectares.

Hrynchuk also noted that currently, 20% of Ukraine's protected areas are under occupation or in combat zones. Ministry experts estimate that the losses to Ukraine's nature reserve fund amount to almost 650 billion UAH.