Problems of environmental protection as an aspect of military confrontation

Abstract

One of the aspects of military conflicts is environmental. A specific and rather intense impact accompanies the conduct of hostilities and preparations for war on the environment. Although ecological damage is not usually a goal of warfare, such damage is integral to most armed conflicts. There is no single model of how war affects the environment. At the same time, war, like most human activity, changes the environment, damaging natural ecosystems and destroying human habitats. Numerous attempts to classify the environmental consequences of military confrontation boil down to the fact that it is expedient to distinguish direct and indirect implications on different scales and at various stages of military conflict. The destruction of natural systems of Ukraine during the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and the accompanying environmental challenges are numerous and diverse: the use of ammunition and damage to enterprises of various industries, including the chemical industry, the rise of radioactive dust into the air due to the movement of heavy equipment in the Chornobyl zone and strikes on nuclear power plants and associated infrastructure facilities, destruction of gas pipelines and oil storage facilities, numerous fires in populated areas, mining of large areas and the impact of shock waves and combustion products on the components of natural and anthropogenically altered ecosystems, etc. The consequences of hostilities will affect nature, people, and society even after these actions are over. Among other things, the territories and objects of the PZF are in the risk zone. It is essential to record and document the facts of environmental crimes and develop long-term plans to neutralize their consequences.