Analysis: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused an increase in emissions from fires, forests have burned and water has been polluted
By Olesia Zhytkova and Robert Gillanders, DCU
In recent weeks, the prospect of negotiations on ending the Russian war in Ukraine has been raised. Ukrainians want a sustainable peace and security guarantees, however the Russian side does not seem ready to agree to a ceasefire. While Ireland has opened its arms to Ukrainians, there remains a sense that while hostilities are taking place thousands of kilometres away from Ireland, the war is something with only indirect effects on our lives and those of our children.
However, the Russian war in Ukraine has damaged the environment in significant ways, and environmental damage has no more respect for international borders than does Vladimir Putin and his allies. As part of the team working on the Research Ireland and Irish Aid funded project "Corruption, Gender, and Sustainable Development" at Dublin City University’s Anti-corruption Research Centre, we have been exploring the effect of corruption on the environment using Ukraine as a case study.
While Ukraine’s environment, and its people, have suffered from domestic corruption in terms of misuse and abuse of public land and resources, and improper oversight and enforcement of pollution regulations, we have found that Russian corruption has also taken a toll. Russia is a kleptocratic country with a huge concentration of wealth, underpinned by blatant abuse of public power by a relatively small circle of connected individuals.
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The full-scale Russian invasion of 2022 has devastated Ukraine’s environment and poses an ongoing threat to the global environment. The war has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels, methane leaks from damaged gas pipelines, and the destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Constant fires caused by direct hostilities and shelling of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure has significantly increased the level of air pollution. For example, the CO emissions level in 2022-2023 in Ukraine increased by up to 11 times.
Moreover, the Russian army hinders efforts to ease the impacts of the war, for example by striking the same site for the second time when emergency services are already there. This prevents fires from being extinguished, causes the destruction of special equipment and endangers the lives of rescuers, thereby compounding the harm done to the environment.
The impact of the war on water resources is even more worrying. Water bodies and sea water are polluted. In June 2023, the Kakhovka dam was breached, flooding a large area of the territory and transferring fertilisers, fuels, wastewater, hazardous substances from industrial facilities and minefields into the Black Sea. The war has caused a drinking water shortage. Already in April 2022, UNICEF reported 1.4 million people without running water across war-affected eastern Ukraine with an additional 4.6 million people across Ukraine lacking adequate access to safe water. Thus, the Russian war is contributing to global air pollution and the depletion of safe drinking water supplies on the planet.
Read more: Who gains from the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam?
The Chornobyl nuclear power plant was occupied by Russian troops from February until March 2022, who failed to abide by radiation protection rules and caused radioactive dust to be released into the air. In February 2025 it was discovered that a Russian drone struck the protective sarcophagus, triggering a fire and a potential nuclear threat. The constant danger of nuclear contamination of the environment also exists at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which has been occupied by the Russians since 2022.
As part of our "Corruption and the Environment" study, in 2024-2025 we conducted interviews with experts, civil society involved in environmental activism, and people related to environmental protection in Ukraine and Ireland.
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Respondents are convinced that the war is one the biggest threat to the environment at present. The environmental situation is labelled as "supercritical", when "all the problems have become more acute." The following environmental impacts were described: "the territory is polluted – both natural and the territory where crops were grown, it all gets into rivers, groundwater and so on", "there are a huge number of fires, forests are burning, and all of this ends up in the atmosphere", "the terrorist attack in Kakhovka… was a tragedy not only for humans, but also for nature", and Russia targeting nuclear plants will lead to "another Chornobyl". The experts interviewed point out that "the war has made everything much worse" and "we are generally hostage to a situation", where in terms of the environmental conditions "the future of not only Ukraine but also Europe is being destroyed."
The grave environmental consequences of the Russian war, which fuel environmental degradation and climate change, are clear to both Irish and Ukrainians. The world and Europe will benefit together if a fair peace is achieved, Ukraine is given security guarantees, and the country’s reconstruction is supported using sustainable development principles.
Dr Olesia Zhytkova is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Anti-Corruption Research Centre in Dublin City University. Rob Gillanders is a Professor of Economics at DCU Business School and Co-Director of the DCU Anti-corruption Research Centre.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
