As of today, the amount of damage to Ukraine's environment caused by russia's attack exceeds UAH 200 billion, interfax.com.ua reports citing the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Ruslan Strelets.
"We are constantly gathering information. All recorded cases are added daily to the mobile application "Eco-threat", which can be joined by anyone. To date, this figure has exceeded UAH 200 billion. And we continue to record these losses," he told reporters at the Chernobyl site during a visit to the Exclusion Zone.
He noted that not all environmental damage can be estimated in money.
"There are ecosystems that will probably never be restored or will take hundreds of years. If it is a burnt tree that has grown for 50-100 years, or burned hectares of valuable land. And they will not restore by any funds," the minister explained.
As for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Exclusion Zone, according to him, the total amount of damage caused by the russian invaders during the occupation has already reached UAH 2 billion.
In his opinion, this amount will be much higher after the final work to identify the facts of damage.
"The work is still ongoing. I am confident that in the near future the final amount will be calculated in order to put it in the general basket of losses and declare them to compensate," he said, noting that an appropriate compensation mechanism will be found at the international level.
He also stressed that russia should, in particular, compensate for the moral damage to the Chernobyl workers - "keeping them more than 30 days without rotation, this is a trauma for which russia must pay the price."
Actions of occupiers at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station can lead to ecological catastrophe.