Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that the total damage to Ukraine's environment due to Russian aggression has now risen to 55.6 billion euros.
"According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine, the total environmental damage caused by Russian aggression today amounts to more than UAH 2 trillion, or EUR 55.6 billion. Half of these losses are due to air pollution from forest fires, missile attacks, and the burning of oil products. Land pollution is more than UAH 980 billion, water pollution is UAH 60 billion," the government's press service said, citing Shmyhal.
According to him, the damage caused by Russia's terrorist attack on the Kakhovka dam exceeds UAH 146 billion.
"Irrigation systems of agricultural land, which grew about 2 million tons of grain a year, were left without water. This is 70% of the grain exported by Ukraine to Africa in 2022," the Prime Minister added.
The Head of Government reminded that more than 174 thousand square kilometers of Ukraine's territory are considered mined, and more than 3 million hectares of forest are affected by the war.
"At the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, the International Register of War Damage was introduced, which also contains an environmental component. This is the first element of the compensation mechanism. In general, it will have three components: a register of losses, a commission for reviewing claims, and a compensation fund. It is important that the fund is filled with confiscated Russian assets," emphasized Shmyhal.
Background. As reported, the destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir killed all the fish in it. According to the estimates of the Minister of Agriculture Solsky, more than 11 thousand tons of fish and 85 fish farms were lost.