Environmental damage due to war in Ukraine already reaches EUR 108 billion – Minister Hrynchuk
Over 9,000 cases of environmental destruction due to the actions of the russian federation have been recorded in Ukraine, and environmental damage due to the war currently reaches EUR 108 billion.
The Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svitlana Hrynchuk has reported this at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC-2025).
As the Ukrainian government official noted, almost 23% of the total territory of Ukraine is still mined.
In addition, damage to hydraulic infrastructure is estimated at at least USD 746 million, and the needs for restoration are almost USD 11 billion.
Also, EUR 10.6 trillion are losses in the subsoil use sector of Ukraine.
In addition, about 50% of the most important, so-called critical mineral resources of Ukraine are located in regions occupied by russia.
According to Hrynchuk, the scale of this terror makes the issue of environmental protection not just a quality of life issue. It is a security issue for the entire continent. That is why we are saying that recovery will not happen after the war, we need it now:
- that is why we have developed the bill "On Green Recovery", which introduces the principles of a "green" taxonomy to stimulate sustainable investments. The approval of the bill will allow attracting private financing, and will also create a legal basis for new financial instruments, such as "green" bonds and "green" corporate financial instruments;
- last year, on the URC fields in Berlin, together with partners, we launched the Green Recovery Platform. Back then, this idea started with EUR 5 million in the Platform's account from the German Government. Today, we are talking about contributions from partners in the amount of EUR 20 million. We are grateful to everyone who joined this important initiative;
- demining is already underway in the liberated territories. Almost 100,000 hectares of our forests have been surveyed so far;
- in the Sviati Hory national park, where 80% of forest stands were destroyed by the war, pine trees began to be planted this year using a new technology. New saplings were planted on the site of the burned-out forest. 100 km of forest roads and approaches to fire reservoirs were demined;
A number of projects have been implemented to build rehabilitation centers for animals. In addition to preserving biodiversity, such centers become a mental support for people who have suffered from russian terror, including veterans.