Kostin: Russia must pay for damage caused to Ukraine’s environment

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said this at the “United for Justice. United for nature” press conference, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We all agree that the Russian Federation as a state must pay for the damage caused to the Ukrainian environment by this war," Kostin said.

The Prosecutor General said that in order to make Ukraine's claims heard at the international level, and to obtain the support from international compensation mechanisms, transparent large-scale discussions and the involvement of all stakeholders, international and national, are needed.

This is necessary to ensure that the damage assessment is fair and reliable and that no one will contradict these results within any compensation mechanism, Kostin explained.

The Prosecutor General stressed that without the confiscation of sovereign Russian assets, it will be very difficult for Ukraine to guarantee that these losses will be compensated.

He informed that the Ukrainian law enforcers establish the standards of investigation and prosecution of those guilty of crimes against the environment as war crimes and those guilty of the crime of ecocide.

"And we believe that this crime (ecocide - ed.) will be one of the recorded international crimes. We believe that it will be included in the Rome Statute. We know that this is important," the Prosecutor General noted.

Kostin stated that ecocide is not just a legal theory or doctrine, it is something people feel and see.

“Divided, we will not be able to achieve anything, but united, we will win. We have no chance to work in any other way - for our future, for the future of future generations and the future of this planet," he said.

Kostin also expressed his belief that the victory of Ukraine will be a victory of the entire democratic world.

As Ukrinform reported, since the beginning of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has committed 2,500 environmental crimes.

Photo: Prosecutor General’s Office