Russian forces set up mortar range in occupied Ukrainian national nature park
According to Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, the occupied park is another of Ukraine's protected natural areas that Russia uses for military purposes, Rubryka reports.
The agency said Russia is also setting up so-called "environmental protection agencies" in occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to damage Ukraine's ecosystems and protected areas, turning them into battle zones, military positions and sites of widespread pollution.
The intelligence said Russia's actions against Ukraine's environment have caused billions of dollars in damage and show signs of war crimes. Dozens of Ukraine's protected natural areas are in active combat zones or under Russian occupation. Moscow's war has devastated their ecosystems.
They include:
Hostilities and occupation — landmines, trenches, and heavy military traffic — are degrading soil, sparking fires, causing fuel and oil spills, and destroying natural habitats.
Military vehicles compact the soil, damage plant roots, and disrupt natural drainage, disrupting ecosystems. Fuel, lubricants, and ammunition remnants also threaten soil and water with chemical contamination. Fires destroy vegetation, animal breeding grounds, and food sources.
Pryazovskyi National Nature Park is a clear example of Russia's use of protected land for military purposes. Russian forces have turned part of the park into a mortar training range.
Russia's so-called shadow fleet poses another threat. Ukrainian intelligence said aging tankers, including vessels carrying mixed cargo, put marine ecosystems at serious risk.
Protected natural areas in southern Ukraine have suffered some of the worst damage from Russia's war and occupation, the agency added. The State Environmental Inspectorate estimates that damage to protected natural areas in the Kherson region alone exceeded 1.2 trillion hryvnias — about 28 billion US dollars — as of October 2026.
International humanitarian law limits the environmental damage parties can cause during war, the intelligence stated. Articles 35 and 55 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions protect the natural environment from widespread, long-term and severe damage.
The Rome Statute also classifies as a war crime an attack carried out with the knowledge that it will cause such environmental damage.
The Ukrainian intelligence stressed that occupying Ukrainian territory does not release Russia from its obligations under international law.
The intelligence added that while the Kremlin builds an illegal bureaucracy to control occupied territories and continues its war, Ukraine's natural environment keeps paying the price.
Restoring Ukraine's ecosystems after Russia's aggression could take decades and require major efforts. Some of the damage may be irreversible.
Rubryka has previously reported on major cases of damage to Ukraine's ecosystems that could qualify as ecocide. They include the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait, and the pollution of the Black Sea with vegetable oil.
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6 of November 2026
