Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Thursday with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and prominent European figures who a
Greta Thunberg's visit to Ukraine reminds us that Putin's invasion is an act of ecocide. The Russian destruction of the dam at Kakhovka is just one of many Russian war crimes with harmful effects on the environment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Thursday with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and prominent European figures who are forming a working group to address ecological damage from the 16-month-old Russian invasion. The meeting in the Ukrainian capital came as fighting continued around the country. [ ... ] The working group on the environment includes Thunberg, former Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Margot Wallström, European Parliament Vice President Heidi Hautala, and former Irish President Mary Robinson. Zelenskyy said forming the group is “a very important signal of supporting Ukraine. It’s really important, we need your professional help.” Thunberg said Russian forces “are deliberately targeting the environment and people’s livelihoods and homes. And therefore also destroying lives. Because this is after all a matter of people.” The objectives of the working group are evaluating the environmental damage resulting from the war, formulating mechanisms to hold Russia accountable, and undertaking efforts to restore Ukraine’s ecology.
Assessing the environmental impacts of the war in Ukraine
Every environmental disaster caused during this war is the direct responsibility of Vladimir Putin and Russia. Putin's efforts to become the Peter the Great of the 21st century set off a string of ecological catastrophes which actually began by compounding a previous Russian environmental calamity at Chernobyl.
