War is not only a human tragedy, but also a catastrophe for nature.
According to the Ministry of Environment, Ukraine’s environmental losses from Russian aggression exceeded UAH 6 trillion.
This is not just a number. It is hundreds of thousands of hectares of burned forests, millions of tons of toxic waste, thousands of destroyed ecosystems.
Every shelling, every explosion is not only the ruin of buildings, but also a blow to ecosystems that have been formed over centuries.
The war turned thousands of hectares of Ukrainian land into dead zones.
The soil structure has been destroyed, the composition of the air has changed, and hundreds of new reservoirs have formed — not from rain, but from sinkholes.
The mine danger makes even basic restoration of territories impossible.
Key ecosystems in eastern and southern Ukraine were affected: forests, steppes, and reserves.
Especially in the Donetsk region, where the nature reserve fund suffered losses of over 2 trillion UAH.
Over 45,000 hectares of protected areas are under occupation, and degradation continues daily.
“Nature is losing its ability to self-regulate. This means that there will be no harvest, forest restoration, or normal fauna on these lands for many years,” Ukrainian ecologists note.
The paradox of war is that even after the liberation of territories, nature continues to suffer.
Mass resettlement, construction of temporary housing, deforestation for roads — all this increases pressure on the environment.
Much work is being done without environmental standards, remediation, or monitoring.
Ecologists emphasize: “biologists should come after the sappers, not excavators.”
The restoration of the Donetsk and Kherson regions must begin with a study of the state of soils, water, and flora – otherwise, instead of revival, we will get an ecological desert.
The environmental consequences of war are not temporary.
They are shaping a new climate reality:
This is not just “loss”, it is the loss of the country’s natural resilience.
Ukraine pays for freedom not only economically, but also with nature.
But now is the time to lay the foundation for ecological restoration, not just “reconstruction.”
Ecosystems don’t need concrete, but time, science, and a strategic approach.
If we do not protect nature after the war, no victory will be complete.
Greening agro is not a fad, but a reaction to the fact that excess nutrients are becoming a source of soil and water pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Digestate with biochar and glauconite is an innovative organo-mineral composite for reducing nutrient losses, prolonged plant nutrition, and increasing soil fertility.
Soil degradation and water pollution are increasingly merging into a combined environmental crisis, especially in arid and post-industrial regions.
