The Ministry of Environmental Protection reported on water quality in the rivers Seym and Desna.

The pollution of the rivers Seym and Desna, which in August-September led to the deterioration of water quality in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, has been eliminated. This was reported to RBC-Ukraine by the First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Olena Kramarenko.

The situation is stable. The water now has a natural color, without a specific smell. No fish die-off is observed either, and the water quality indicators are typical for this period of the year

According to her, the indicators of chemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen in the rivers at all control points are within the norm.

Currently, the monitoring of rivers by the State Water Agency and the State Environmental Inspection continues, but has switched from daily to weekly sampling.

Due to the stabilization of the situation, we have moved from daily to weekly sampling for research purposes. Also, the river Desna is being oxygenated using aeration units. Therefore, we can now definitely say that the situation is stable

As Kramarenko noted, the pollution was caused by the discharge of industrial wastewater from a sugar factory located on the territory of the Russian Federation. This conclusion was confirmed by the research of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and other institutions.

As reported, on the banks of the river Seym in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, since August 14, there has been a recorded mass fish die-off and water pollution. Residents of the surrounding areas are prohibited from swimming in the river, and the State Environmental Inspection and the State Fish Agency suggest that the dirty water in the Seym came from Kursk.

Subsequently, the State Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergency Situations prepared a plan for cleaning the rivers Seym in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions and Desna in the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions.

As of September 22, there was recurring water pollution in the river Seym. In the river Desna, the situation has stabilized. Notably, between September 21-23, the river Desna in the Kyiv region experienced the lowest water level in the last 100 years.