Russian aggression and the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP dealt a catastrophic blow to Ukrainian ecosystems, putting dozens of rare species of flora and fauna at risk of complete disappearance. The most affected were the protected areas of the Kherson region, the steppes and the waters of the Black Sea.
This is stated in the response of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture to a request from the publication hromadske.
According to the agency, the consequences of the breach of the Kakhovka HPP dam in June 2023 led to large-scale desalination and chemical contamination of seawater. About 80,000 hectares of protected lands fell into the environmental disaster zone, including the national nature parks «Nyzhnodniprovskyi», «Kam’yanska Sich» and «Velykyi Luh».
The environmental catastrophe affected unique habitats of Kherson endemics. The ministry does not rule out that such rare species as the sandy blind mole-rat and the yemuranchyk may completely disappear from the region’s territory. Also hit were the marine zander and Nordmann’s birch mouse.
They also note a mass die-off of dolphins in the Black Sea. Due to the constant use by Russian military ships and submarines of powerful sonars, Red Book-listed common dolphins, Azov dolphins and white-beaked dolphins lose their spatial orientation. The enemy’s hydroacoustic systems deprive the mammals of the ability to hunt, causing animals to die en masse or be washed ashore.
Ukrainian steppes have suffered no less destruction. The occupiers’ heavy military equipment destroys soils and unique vegetation, including feather grass (kovyla), the recovery of which will take decades.
In addition, the great bustard population is under threat. The habitats of this rare bird are now in the zone of active hostilities, and there is currently no data at all on the population’s status in occupied Crimea.