President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Russian military machine is not just a human horror, but also an ecological catastrophe for Ukraine.
This statement was made by the President of Ukraine at the GLOBSEC International Security Forum in Bratislava (Slovakia), reports VICE.
"One of the most important targets for the Russian army in Ukraine today is bridges across rivers. It happens that the Russian army strikes missiles three times on the same bridge to completely destroy it. It is impossible to overestimate the threat posed by Russia's aggression to water potential. our part of Europe – the center and the east, the Black Sea basin, "Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president stressed that the nature of the hostilities of the Russian troops is frankly barbaric. "They are simply destroying absolutely everything. They are brutally bombing both residential buildings and industrial enterprises. In particular, environmentally hazardous chemical plants, metallurgical plants, etc.," Zelensky said.
He reminded that the fighting in Donbass since 2014 has created a threat of groundwater pollution. If the coal mines in Donbass continue to be flooded – among them, for example, the Yunkom mine, where an underground nuclear explosion took place in 1979 – poison and even radioactive contamination can get not only into the rivers of Ukraine, but also in the Black and Azov Seas.
In his speech, he mentioned the Danube River, which equally enriches different peoples and different cities: Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest, Linz, Regensburg, Belgrade, Izmail, etc.; Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Moldova and Ukraine.
"For the Danube to remain clean and secure, for its economic potential, including transport, to work to its full potential, the cooperation of all countries to which nature has given this river is needed. Therefore, unity is needed. Understanding is needed. And these are the key things for a peaceful and free life in Europe. This is what Slovakia can do. This is what Ukraine can do. This is what other countries – our partners – can do. And this is what Russia is deliberately ignoring," said President of Ukraine.
Informing the partners about the security challenges related to Ukrainian waters, the President also mentioned Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports. He stated that due to this act of aggression by the Russian Federation, the world is on the verge of a food crisis.
"We must respond to all the challenges and dangers that the Russian Federation has created for us and you. Politics, economics, the military, food, environment, migration – there is no area of our lives in which there is no catastrophe, crisis, threat of catastrophe or crises due to Russia's actions, "Zelensky said.
Before EcoPolitics reported that the actions of Russians in Ukraine are threatening destruction of 2.9 million hectares of the Emerald Network.
