Rome Statute, art. 8(2)(b)(iv); Additional Protocol I, art. 35(3), 55 and 56
Environmental crimes
Widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment: attacks on nuclear facilities and dams, flooding of inhabited areas, contamination of soil, rivers and the Black Sea.
- Incidents
- 7
- Documented victims
- 123
- Period covered
- 2022 — 2023
Geographic distribution
- Kyiv oblast2
- Zaporizhzhia oblast2
- Kherson oblast2
- Mykolaiv oblast1
Recorded incidents
24 February 2022 · · Kyiv oblast
Seizure of the Chornobyl plant and exclusion zone
Armoured columns crossed the Red Forest and dug trenches in highly contaminated soil; plant staff were held on site for weeks.
Environmental crimes · sources: IAEA
4 March 2022 · · Zaporizhzhia oblast
Armed assault on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Shelling of the site started a fire in a training building; Europe's largest nuclear plant has been operated under military control ever since.
Environmental crimes · sources: IAEA
9 March 2022 · · Kyiv oblast
Power cut to spent fuel cooling
The site lost its external power supply during the occupation, interrupting the monitoring and cooling of spent nuclear fuel.
Environmental crimes · sources: IAEA
11 August 2022 · · Zaporizhzhia oblast
Strikes near reactor power lines
Repeated damage to the last external power lines forced the plant onto emergency diesel generators, raising the risk of a cooling failure.
Environmental crimes · sources: IAEA
6 June 2023 · · Kherson oblast
Destruction of the Kakhovka dam
The dam, held by occupying forces, collapsed at night and emptied a reservoir of 18 km3, flooding some eighty localities on both banks of the Dnipro.
Environmental crimes · sources: UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission
89victims
8 June 2023 · · Kherson oblast
Flooded districts shelled during evacuation
Rescue boats and flooded neighbourhoods came under fire; drinking water, farmland and Black Sea coastal ecosystems were contaminated for years.
Environmental crimes · sources: Regional administration
34victims
20 June 2023 · · Mykolaiv oblast
Collapse of the regional water supply
The loss of the Kakhovka reservoir cut off irrigation canals and drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people in the southern steppe.
Environmental crimes · sources: Ministry of Environmental Protection