As we informed before, the UN General Assembly session that began in New York, discusses the new Report A/80/174 “Military Activities and Toxic,” prepared by the Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Professor Marcos A. Orellana.
Before, as part of our ongoing collaboration with UN bodies to prepare this Report, our Association informed the Special Rapporteur in March of this year about the negative impact of Russian aggression on the environment in Ukraine.
ARC’s submission, prepared by Professor Borys Babin and other experts, and published at UN official web-sources, reminded on negative consequences of Russian aggression, directly connected with environmental challenges and maritime safety and security in Black Sea and Sea of Azov including waters, adjacent to the Crimean peninsula, and relevant challenges for human rights, our expert publications were added to the submission.
Submission reminded on IMO Resolution A.1183 (33) adopted on 4 December 2023, reflecting the challenges of Russian aggression to maritime environment, also as on destruction by Russian troops the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on June, 2023, and submission described relevant aggressor’s disinformation and manipulation companies.
ARC’s submission described again to the UN Rapporteur the catastrophic situation connected with Russia’s aggression, happened on December 15, 2024 when the Russian tankers “Volgoneft-212” and “Volgoneft-239” sank in a storm near the Kerch Strait, also pointing on the occupiers’ negligence and disinformation campaigns on that issue.
The submission also mentioned a letter to our Association on that issue from the Director of the IMO’s Marine Environment Division and described relevant petitions, sent to UN bodies about negative consequences of that catastrophe, prepared by us and by Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People.
In Report A/80/174, Professor Orellana expressed his gratitude to the ARC and other respondents who shared their expertise, insights and perspectives. Paragraph 8 of the Report on this matter, citing published ARC materials, states that military activities can generate chemical pollution including through oil spills. Such pollution has severe consequences for human health, ecosystems and economic activities, among others.
Paragraph 12 of the Report states that since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, explosions have displaced large volumes of soil, leaving behind disturbed earth contaminated with metal debris and ash. The widespread destruction of buildings has released large quantities of asbestos into the environment, posing serious health risks to civilians and first responders, and that damage to critical infrastructure has led to leaks of toxic substances.
Paragraph 14 of the Report states that in June 2023, the breach of the Kakhovka HPP released over 90,000 tons of heavy metals, such as arsenic, nickel and zinc, flooding the Dnipro River and flowing into the Black Sea. This release contaminated protected areas including the Velykyi Luh national nature park.
This disaster is also mentioned in paragraph 69 of the Report, which states that induced flooding could mobilize buried hazardous waste, “as was the case when Russian military forces …destroyed the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine in 2023,” while an artificial droughts might concentrate pollutants.
Regarding the issues raised in our submission, paragraph 19 of the Report notes that oil spills form a major source of environmental harm in conflict zones. They affect civilian health substantially through inhalation or contact with oils through the consumption of contaminated foods. Oil pollutants are known to cause long-term health issues and have carcinogenic effects, the UN Special Rapporteur emphasized.
Paragraph 55 of the Report states that the toxic legacy of the war in Ukraine includes the burning of forests by Russian military forces as a tactic of war, which releases inordinate quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and destroys important carbon sinks.
Among the recommendations of the Report A/80/174, there are the proposals to adopt measures to safeguard protected areas that may be adversely affected by armed conflict; to support the inclusion of the crime of ecocide in the Rome Statute, “in a formulation consistent with human rights principles and standards”; and to mandate post-conflict environmental assessments and, where feasible, during armed conflict, as an integral component of peacebuilding.
Now those issues were reflected in a set of publications in the European media, including Bulgarian informational platform “FAR”, Polish media “Nowiny Polskie” and Romanian edition “Romania Inform”. Current European attention to those issues will be the important ground for the next discussions in European structures and other international organizations on countering environmental harm, caused by the Russian aggression.
