Russian Federation-Ukraine War as an environmental security issue on the Black Sea

Nesrin Algan, Gökçe Karalezli Aydoğan

ORCID IDs: N.A. 0000-0002-0551-6749; G.K.A. 0000-0002-1864-183X

Department of Urban, Environmental and Local Government Policies, Faculty of Political Sciences, Ankara University, Cemal Gürsel Cad. 06590 Çankaya/Ankara, TÜRKİYE

Abstract

The conflicts between the Russian Federation and Ukraine since the beginning of 2014 have caused many environmental, economic, cultural and sociological problems. Ukraine has the vast majority of Europe’s biodiversity. The fact that the important water resources feeding the Black Sea are within the borders of Ukraine raises concerns about the environmental impacts of the conflicts in this region. These concerns increase due to the weight of nuclear energy and the heavy chemical industry in Ukraine’s economic activities. This study examines the environmental effects of the Russian Federation-Ukrainian war before, during and after the war and how these effects could damage the Black Sea. Also, the study discusses the environmental security problem caused by the war in Ukraine, as well as the potential environmental security and envirocide that it may cause at the regional and global levels in the medium and long term.

Keywords: War, Black Sea, conflict pollution, environmental security, envirocide, ecocide

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