KYIV. Nov 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The field office for recording environmental crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukraine during nine months of the full-scale Russian invasion counted EUR 34.6 million in losses (UAH 1.38 billion) inflicted on the country's environment.

As Acting Chairman of the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine (SEI) Ihor Zubovych said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine, in just nine months, 987 events were entered in the Unified Register of Damage that affected the environment of Ukraine for a total of UAH 1.38 billion, of which UAH 927 billion of damage was due to air pollution, UAH 443 billion due to land and soil pollution, and UAH 15.7 billion due to damage to water bodies.

At the same time, he said that the calculated damage does not take into account the environmental situation in the temporarily occupied territories, and may increase significantly after the inspectorate employees gain access to them.

"My vision: the Armed Forces of Ukraine should enter the occupied territories first, then mine clearance is carried out, and the State Environmental Inspectorate and representatives of the field office enter the occupied territories third to record and calculate all the damage to the environment," Zubovych said at the press conference.

In turn, the chief coordinator of the field office for recording environmental crimes of the Russian Federation, Olena Kryvoruchkina, said that the organization was created on March 1, 2022 on the basis of the State Environmental Inspectorate. The office includes representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Reintegration, the Ministry of Defense, the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office, the Security Service of Ukraine and the public. Its tasks include recording environmental crimes in the Russian Federation, calculating environmental damage, as well as keeping the Unified Register of Damage.

According to her, the office developed a resolution on the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the UN General Assembly, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and other international organizations with a request to establish a Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and approved it on September 20. To date, some progress has been seen in this direction – the UN General Assembly, in its resolution of November 14, decided to take into account environmental damage to the country along with other types of damage, for example, infrastructure damage.

In addition, over the course of its work, the office has developed methods for calculating inorganic emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere in case of emergency situations and/or during martial law, a method for calculating the amount of damage to soil due to emergency situations and/or during martial law, as well as a method for calculating losses, caused by water pollution or unauthorized use of water resources.