In Kharkiv region, ecological damage from the occupiers' detonation of the dam of the Oskil reservoir reached 3 billion hryvnias.
This was stated by the head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, Oleksandr Filchakov, who called the detonation of the dam an environmental crime, according to the department's Facebook page.
The occupiers partially blew up the dams in October 2022 during a counteroffensive.
It is noted that the reservoir provided water to some residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Due to the explosion, they were left without water supply. It also destroyed the ecosystem of the reservoir and led to the destruction of valuable species of fish and other aquatic organisms.
The press service added that the Izyum forest is located on the shore of the reservoir.
"Against the background of human losses, the consequences for the environment may not seem like a primary problem. However, the suffering that the war inflicts on the environment will remind us of the full-scale Russian invasion for decades to come. The state of atmospheric air, water and soil depends on the health of a person, the quality, and sometimes even the length of his life," the press service noted.
The message added that the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Kharkiv region has started a pre-trial investigation. Comprehensive forensic examinations are currently underway.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, in November 2022 in Kharkiv Oblast, the Oskil reservoir was on the verge of an ecological disaster, because the water level dropped sixfold.
