The Use of Remote Sensing Data for Investigation of Environmental Consequences of Russia-Ukraine War

Abstract

The usage of remote sensing data for tracking or monitoring war conflicts is a reality nowadays. The Russian invasion in Ukraine seriously impacted on the environment of the attacked country in all areas: air, soil, water, flora and fauna. The war has created a massive increase in air pollution in some regions of Ukraine, and might have effect in neighbouring countries. The Russian attack has caused many fires at places such as oil depots, industrial complexes, equipment and ammunition stockpiles, the forests, and residential areas. In addition to this, many bridges, hydraulic and other structures located over and near the water bodies were destroyed. These events were analysed in this paper by using publicly available remote sensing data: NOAA-2, Suomi NPP, Aqua and Terra satellites, Sentinel and Landsat satellites, as well as from other sources open to public. We assume that the use of remote sensing data is an excellent tool to monitor effects of military conflicts on environment. The conducted research with proposed method can serve as a good scientific practice that should be implemented for monitoring of the harm to nature caused by wars.

Rivers and Water Systems as Weapons and Casualties of the Russia‐Ukraine War

“…In many cases, the main source of primary information about military events was and remains visual observation and local media reports. In recent decades, remote sensing has become more widespread, which is especially relevant in times of war when access by traditional media and other independent sources becomes more challenging (Al‐doski et al., 2013; Baumann & Kuemmerle, 2016; Fakhri & Gkanatsios, 2021; Garzón & Valánszki, 2020; Hasan et al., 2019; Shevchuk et al., 2022; Witmer, 2015). We expand upon that work here with an up‐to‐date analysis of explicit impacts on the rivers and water infrastructure, particularly the Dnipro River, since the expansion of the war in 2022, but we also note that there is a relative lack of information about conditions within Russian‐held territory.…”

“…Over the past several months, new information about the Russia‐Ukraine war and its environmental consequences has become available (Harada et al., 2022; Khilchevskyi, 2022; Pereira et al., 2022; Rawtani et al., 2022; Shevchuk et al., 2022; Shevchuk & Vyshnevskyi, 2022; Shumilova et al., 2023; V. Vyshnevskyi et al., 2023; Zheleznyak et al., 2022). In many cases, the main source of primary information about military events was and remains visual observation and local media reports.…”

“…The resulting flooding peaked on 18–21 March 2022 and became a serious obstacle to advancing Russian troops from the north and the northwest (Shevchuk et al., 2022). In some places the width of the flooding on the Irpin River exceeded 1 km (Figure 3).…”

“…The above mentioned Dnipro hydroelectric plant near Zaporizhzhia city was attacked in December 2022 and again in February 2023 (BBC News, 2023). Ukraine's urban water‐supply and wastewater treatment systems, or the electricity systems needed to run them, have also been regularly destroyed by Russian attacks, cutting access to safe water and sanitation to civilian populations in the cities of Chernihiv, Sloviansk, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk, among others (Shevchuk et al., 2022).…”