Finnish MEP Heidi Hautala (Green) and Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg joined a meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Russia's environmental crimes in Ukraine.
"These environmental devastations must not go unpunished," the European Parliament's Vice President Hautala said.
The International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War visited Kyiv on Thursday, and Hautala said afterwards that Ukraine was the focus but not the limit of the group's ambitions.
"Ukraine is, of course, at the centre, but we are not doing this solely for Ukraine's sake. We must show the world that environmental devastation of this magnitude cannot go unpunished."
The working group was assembled by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 8 June, two days after the collapse of the Kahovka Dam. At the time, Zelensky emphasised that the dam incident was not a natural disaster or an environmental crisis but a war crime for which Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others, is personally responsible.
One of Zelensky's proposed conditions for peace involves the prevention of environmental devastation.
The working group consists of 15 members, but only five were present in Kyiv on Thursday: Andrii Yermak, the Chief of Staff to the President of Ukraine, MEP Hautala (Greens/EFA), Swedish environmental activist Thunberg, former Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, and former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
Zelensky attended the meeting as a guest and other members participated remotely.
Hautala pleased with Ukraine's attention to ecocide
According to Hautala, the first meeting demonstrated Ukraine's strong determination to hold Russia accountable for its environmental crimes and said that the working group currently has three important tasks.
"The first is to provide an overall assessment of the situation, the second is to evaluate the environmental damage from a criminal justice perspective, and the third is the green transition, that is, how the country will be rebuilt after the war," Hautala said.
Hautala said she was surprised by the level of attention Ukraine has given to ecocide, the intentional destruction of nature. Ecocide is a crime, and the European Parliament takes environmental crimes very seriously, Hautala said.
"Ukraine is a European country, and you can feel it deeply here. Ukrainians, the Ukrainian government, and the president are doing everything they can to join the European Union as soon as possible. And we all must support Ukraine's swift accession," Hautala states.
Thunberg on Kakhovka dam: "The world's reaction was inadequate"
The Ukrainian prosecutor's office is investigating nearly 190 environmental crimes committed by Russia. Most of the environmental crimes in Ukraine involve damage to industrial and energy facilities. Other offences include causing a negative impact on ecosystems, compromising nuclear safety, and mishandling agricultural waste.
The highest number of environmental crimes has occurred in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions. The main environmental worry for the Ukrainians is now the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and its consequences. There is a sentiment in Ukraine that the world did not respond adequately to the tragedy.
"I believe the world's reaction was inadequate. I don't believe that any reaction would have been enough. We need to provide a space for the victims of the incident to tell their own experiences," Thunberg said.
The date for the working group's next meeting has not yet been decided, but Hautala said that its work will continue in the near future.