Fires on the Kinburn Spit released 5.5 million tonnes of pollutants into the atmosphere

Fires caused by military operations in 2022-2023 on the Kinburn Spit released 5.5 million tonnes of pollutants into the atmosphere.

This was reported by the State Ecological Inspectorate of the South-Western District.

According to representatives of the environmental inspectorate, 252 damage calculations have been carried out, with a total estimated value of 300 billion hryvnias. These fires released 5.5 million tonnes of pollutants into the air, of which 5.4 million tonnes were harmful gases, including carbon dioxide.

What is happening on Kinburn?

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the territory of the Kinburn Spit has been occupied by the Russian military. In fact, the Russians have been shelling the Ochakiv and Kutsurub communities of Mykolaiv region for more than a year.

Only three settlements in Mykolaiv region, which are located on the territory of the Kinburn Spit, remain occupied until now:

• Vasylivka village. Before the full-scale war, the population was 382 people;
• Pokrovka village. Before the full-scale war, the population was 229 people;
• the village of Pokrovske. Before the full-scale war, the population was 177 people.

The Ukrainian Defence Forces are currently continuing combat operations against the occupiers there. In particular, Ukrainian defenders struck the area where Russian manpower, weapons and equipment were concentrated on the spit, and destroyed Russian invaders and enemy equipment there

Recently, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Command, Vitalii Kim, said that the liberation of the Kinburn Spit is a matter of time, «and not a very long one at that». This was also confirmed by the spokesperson for the Southern Defence Forces, Nataliia Humeniuk.

At the same time, the Russian occupiers continue to shell and mine the protected area of the Kinburn Peninsula. Wild animals are killed by mines there almost every day, and there are cases of human casualties. This is described in the article «NikVesti» « On the brink of destruction: How the protected Kinburn Spit is suffering from the actions of the occupiers»

Throughout the occupation, forests on the Kinburn Spit have been burning from time to time. The situation is usually complicated by the fact that the Russian occupiers did not allow rescuers to extinguish the fire, so fires can last for weeks. At the same time, as noted in the RMA, Mykolaiv region cannot help extinguish the fires there, as all fire stations and equipment that can reach there are located in the occupied territories of Kherson region.

Red Book orchids and other unique plants and animals are under threat because of the fires on Kinburn, Ombudsman Liudmyla Denisova said.

After the de-occupation, the Kinburn Spit will need time to restore nature on its own, according to «Sviatoslav's Biloberezhzhia». This will happen while the demining of the protected area continues.

How did people evacuate from Kinburn?

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the waterway between Kinburn and Ochakiv has been closed. However, in the first weeks of the invasion, people still had the opportunity to evacuate. Yevhen Poltavchuk from Mykolaiv helped them with his own fishing boat. He coordinated his actions with the city authorities and the military.

However, later the danger of shelling and mines only increased, so it became impossible to continue the evacuation. Currently, the only way to evacuate Kinburn is through the territory of the temporarily occupied Kherson region.