The occupiers acknowledge a critical situation with the ecosystem on the left bank of the Kherson region. In particular, it concerns the destruction of forests in the Oleshky community.
As pro-Kremlin media report, according to an employee of one of the occupying universities, most of the forest stands in the Oleshky community have been affected by fires and combat operations.
The so-called scientist Olena Berdnikova confirmed that the epicenter of the hostilities falls precisely on the forest areas, which leads to catastrophic consequences for the ecosystem.
Despite acknowledging the scale of the destruction, the representative of the occupying university assures that the plantings could allegedly be restored within 5–7 years after the end of hostilities.
It should be noted, the Oleshky Forest – is one of the largest man-made forest complexes in the world, created to contain the spread of the Oleshky Sands. Since the beginning of the occupation the forest has been systematically destroyed by fire due to combat and the negligence of the occupying authorities, who do not provide firefighting. Ukrainian ecologists call this a deliberate ecocide, the consequences of which may be irreversible for the region.