Ukraine’s new Ecocide war crime theory
Ukraine claims Russia committed over 4,700 environmental crimes during the war. It now seeks new international laws to make wartime environmental harm illegal.
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The water surged into the villages and towns of the Kherson region with terrifying speed, swallowing everything in its path.
With cut paws, a dog balanced on the wires swaying above the flooded houses.
Olena managed to save it — along with more than a hundred other animals — after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station in June 2023.
But more than 120,000 birds and 20,000 mammals, as well as dozens of people, were not so fortunate. They fell victim to a Russian war crime that has come to be known as ‘ecocide.’
The war in Ukraine has raised the need to make environmental destruction an international crime in its own right, and Ukrainians are at the forefront of a new legal theory to make it happen. Those working day and night on this far-off dream hope it will have a deterrent effect in other conflicts still yet to come, and create a measure of justice in the war that is currently ongoing.
“When we got to Kherson, we came under shelling. We barely made it to the shore. While the car was moving, the [Russians] were shooting at us. We waited for about an hour and a half and then came back because we had to continue picking up [animals and people],” Olena Sadovska told The Counteroffensive.
Olena is a volunteer with the ‘Kyiv Tails’ charity foundation, which rescues animals affected by the war. Before the full-scale invasion, she had a shelter in Siverodonetsk, in the Luhansk region. However, her city is now occupied and has been burned to the ground.
Olena understands better than most the devastating impact war has on nature. Together with her charitable foundation, she also led efforts to rescue animals after the de-occupation of the Kyiv region in May 2022. Her team later relocated pets and domestic animals that the floodwaters had stranded to safe locations from the Kherson region. Now, they are working tirelessly to rescue animals from active combat zones in the east.
The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam is the largest man-made disaster in Europe in recent decades. The Russians blew it up around 3 a.m. on June 6, 2023, while Ukrainians were still sleeping. Dozens of people and tens of thousands of animals died as a result.
The Kherson region, where the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was located, used to grow about 80% of all vegetables in Ukraine. Now farming in much of the area is impossible, because it is deprived of irrigation.
In addition, the Kakhovka dam was vital for vessels navigating the largest river in Ukraine, the Dnipro. The explosion at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is not only an environmental but also an economic disaster.
The destruction of an area similar to the size of London inspired Ukrainians to try to investigate – and hopefully one day prosecute – a novel crime: ecocide.
In 2021, a group of international lawyers working under the Stop Ecocide International initiative proposed a definition of ecocide: "wrongful or deliberate actions taken with the knowledge that they are likely to result in serious and widespread or prolonged ecological damage." Since Ukraine cooperates with the lawyers from organization, a country could propose a similar definition as a party of Rome Statute — one of the key agreements that make up international law.
This route is so-far untested, but the legal theory is that it could be prosecuted through the international tribunal as any other core international crime, according to Volodymyr Hryshko, legal counsel for Truth Hounds. For now, there are four categories of international crime: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin has said that Ukraine stands as the first country to investigate crimes against the environment as war crimes. If Ukraine is successful in proving that the Russians have caused long-term and deliberate environmental damage, it could establish legal precedents that could be used in future conflicts.
Volodymyr Hryshko explained that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could issue arrest warrants against Russians accused of ecological crimes. Then, if those accused then traveled to a country that has ratified the Rome Statute, they could theoretically be arrested and extradited to appear before the tribunal.
However, the procedure for amending the Roman Statute is complicated and time-consuming.
On 1 January 2025, Ukraine will become a state party to the ICC Statute. This is a game changer, as it will be able to propose amendments to the document. For ecocide to become a core international crime, at least two-thirds of the votes of other states parties are required. And even if the amendment is approved, states can still decide not to ratify it.
Today, many Ukrainians believe that the Russians are deliberately devastating Ukraine’s environment, threatening the extinction of entire ecosystems. Speaking this month in Azerbaijan, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that Russia has committed over 4,700 environmental crimes, causing an estimated $64 billion in damage.
Constant shelling has led to widespread destruction, with Russian forces setting Ukrainian forests ablaze, polluting the air and water, destroying nature reserves, and scorching hundreds of hectares of land.
The concept of ecocide as a criminal offense is recognized in the legislation of several countries, including Vietnam and former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine. However, since its inclusion in the Ukrainian Criminal Code in 2001, the courts have issued no convictions.
"This article has never been applied in peacetime. During the war, we sent only one case to court, which had no connection to the conflict," Maksym Popov, an adviser to the Prosecutor General, told The Counteroffensive.
Experts attribute this to the incomplete definition of ecocide in the Ukrainian Criminal Code. The law stipulates liability for the "mass and deliberate destruction" of the environment, but it lacks clear criteria for assessing what constitutes mass destruction or how to prove the intent behind the crime. This legal vagueness makes accountability difficult.
In contrast, international law does not use the term "ecocide," but it does address large-scale environmental damage. Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which governs the International Criminal Court, prohibits the launching of an attack in the knowledge that it will cause “widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive”.
Many feel the ICC should go further in protecting the environment, including Richard J. Rogers, who was a senior lawyer at several U.N. war crimes tribunals, and is now Executive Director of environmental justice group Climate Counsel.
"A lot can be done under Article 8. But if we had another international crime of ecocide, it would be eco-centric, so it wouldn't require human harm. The focus would be different, and in many cases it would be easier to prosecute situations," Rogers told The Counteroffensive.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Climate Council has been working with the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to prepare cases for trial, hoping to prosecute Russia for alleged environmental war crimes. As part of this collaboration, the organization has created the first guide to help prosecutors “identify, frame, investigate, and prioritize environmental war crimes cases.”
In January 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on member states to codify ecocide. A few weeks later, at the end of March, the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs voted to support the inclusion of “ecocide” in the EU’s revised environmental crime directive.
According to Richard J. Rogers, it will take at least five years, if not decades, for ecocide to be recognized as a fifth core international crime that can be investigated by the International Criminal Court.
But that does not prevent Ukraine from investigating Russia's environmental damage now.
Still, there are challenges with assessing the actual damage in wartime, as it is impossible to organize an investigation safely. Ukrainian territories remain under constant bombardment, making it too dangerous for investigators to enter active combat zones. Often, much of the damage is assessed remotely, often through the analysis of satellite imagery. The investigation into the Kakhovka dam explosion, which occurred last year, is still ongoing.
Maksym Popov, an adviser to the Prosecutor General, who is specialised in ecological crimes, believes that the Kakhovka Dam may bacome a leading case in international prosecution.
“Before the Khakhovka Dam, we already had 14 cases with the qualification of 'ecocide'. But because of the threshold, the area that was flooded, and the damage done to the environment, it is more noticeable to everyone. It is probably the most striking example of ecocide right now,” he told The Counteroffensive.
Despite the time-consuming prosecution of Russia’s war crimes, Popov believes there is no need to rush. Ukrainian investigators are now focused on proving the long-term environmental impact of these crimes, which is a criteria for the future recognition of the crime as ecocide. Therefore, the experts record changes in air quality or other natural resources in the years after each major ecological crime was committed.
Nonetheless, one day, Ukraine hopes to achieve justice and hold those responsible accountable.
"Peace and justice are inseparable. They always go hand in hand," Popov told The Counteroffensive.
Olena Sadovska shares a similar outlook. She believes that even if the war were to end this year, it would take decades for Ukraine’s natural environment to fully heal.
"A just punishment for Russia is the dream of all Ukrainians. We hope it will come to pass, and the civilized world should stand with us to ensure it happens," she said.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
S. KOREA CONTROVERSY OVER UKRAINE DEPLOYMENT: South Korea's opposition Democratic Party is threatening to impeach the defense minister if the ruling People Power Party sends military monitors to Ukraine. President Yoon Suk Yeol seeks to analyze North Korean tactics, as up to 10,000 North Korean troops are reportedly active in western Russia, but the DP insists this move would violate the constitution, which mandates legislative consent for overseas troop deployments. Calling them “monitors” doesn’t address opposition fears, and without control of the legislature, Yoon is unlikely to risk an impeachment, notes Eurasia Group’s Jeremy Chan.
ONLINE MARRIAGE IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S BEST INVENTIONS: Ukrainian public service portal Diia has been included in TIME magazine's list of the world's best inventions for its online marriage service, Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced.
The service was launched at the beginning of September. One of the partners can make an offer to the other through the app. They have 14 days to respond. And then, thanks to the Internet, the couple can get married right through the mobile screen. The Counteroffensive has previously written about Diia and other Ukrainian digital inventions. You can read it here.
UKRAINE MAY BE A EU MEMBER BY 2029: If Ukraine completes the necessary reforms, the country could join the EU within five years, a senior EU official said. The reforms concern the rule of law, oligarchs and corruption to meet the membership criteria, DW reports.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varghese said the EU has created additional tools for Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans to "help accelerate reforms."
TO FUND ITS WAR, MOSCOW HAS TO INCREASE TAXES - In the draft 2025 budget of Russia, almost a third of all expenditures (or 6.3% of GDP) will be directed to financing the army, Reuters reports. This is the highest level of military spending since the Cold War. For the first time, the share of defense spending will be double social spending.
The rise in military spending is causing inflation in the Russian economy, with interest rates reaching their highest level since 2003 and the ruble falling to a one-year low against the dollar. Faced with limited fundraising opportunities due to Western sanctions, the Russian government has begun to increase taxes to support its ongoing military activities in Ukraine, with a major tax reform expected to bring in additional revenue worth about 1.7% of GDP in 2025. However, economists argue that this revenue boost may still be insufficient, and further tax adjustments are likely on the way.
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СAT OF CONFLICT
Today, we have a cat that Nastia came across in her neighbourhood.
Stay safe out there.
Best,
Myroslava
Thank you to everyone working hard. Though it's not said out loud enough you are appreciated and we must keep reminding people and never let them forget. There are those with such greed that they will do anything to achieve their goals. Those that no longer have a conscience, morals, decency, respect or value of other's lives or properties or for humanity or any living thing at all. Only to destroy that which stands in it's way of getting what they want.
Sorry I just get so upset thinking about all that has been happening for far to long. Trying to see both sides is my gift. But I only see an endless black hole of greed on one side and humanity on the other side. Clear who is wrong!!! God bless you all and may God protect you and raise you up again stronger than before 😇🙏 Amen
Excellent post. Russians must be punished for their ecocide crimes. The Guardian recently had a story about Russians dumping deadly chemical waste from a sugar factory just over the border in Russia into the Seym River
which connects to a reservoir on the Desna River in Ukraine from which Kyiv draws for its water supply. These crimes must be recorded and the perpetrators punished. The Krakhovka Dam destruction by Russia must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of international law.