Ukraine investigating more than 200 cases of war crimes against environment - Hrynchuk

The Prosecutor General's Office is currently engaged in the investigation of 209 criminal proceedings on war crimes against the environment of Ukraine, 14 of which have been preliminarily classified as "ecocide".

Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Svitlana Hrynchuk said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

“A distinct area of focus is the documentation of crimes against the environment. This is conducted by environmental inspectors in collaboration with prosecutors from specialized environmental prosecutor's offices under Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. Currently, the Prosecutor General's Office is engaged in the investigation of 209 criminal proceedings on war crimes against the environment, 14 of which have been preliminarily classified as ecocide,” Hrynchuk said.

In particular, together with representatives of the ministry, these data are being documented and prepared for inclusion in the International Register of Damages, after the environmental component is launched.

According to the minister, it is important that international courts recognize these estimates and losses. It is also important that the aggressor actually compensates for the damage.

Hrynchuk noted that the ministry is trying to unite all these procedures on the platform of Point 8 of Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula, entitled "Environmental Safety."

She added that an international meeting of partners will take place in the near future, with 18 countries participating. The key issues in the negotiations will be documenting, compensating the aggressor for damages and restoring the damaged territories.

As reported by Ukrinform, as of September 2024, as a result of Russia's full-scale invasion, more than 6,000 environmental crimes were recorded, with estimated damages reaching UAH 2.6-2.7 trillion.