The Environmental and Health Dimensions of the Ukraine War

Mar 16, 2022 | Erika Weinthal, Jeannie Sowers,
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As has unfolded before in Grozny, Aleppo, and Gaza City, war exacts a heavy cost on cities. Urban centers depend on systems of coupled infrastructure; when a power plant is destroyed, for example, the reverberating effects are widespread, causing harm to water, sanitation, and health care systems. Prior to the latest war, two-thirds of Ukraine’s 44 million people lived in cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mariupol; over the course of two weeks, these cities have experienced incessant shelling.

As it did in Syria, Russia has reportedly been using types of weapons—including cluster bombs and thermobaric rockets (which ignite clouds of aerosols and can penetrate shelters and bunkers)—that are widely condemned worldwide for their indiscriminate impacts on civilians and civilian structures. 

By March 11, the United Nations reported that 2.5 million civilians had fled Ukraine, and that the Russian invasion had displaced another 2 million people inside the country. This constitutes the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The resulting forced displacement of civilians, within and across borders, is one consequence, as is the mental and physical trauma inflicted on those seeking to stay in place despite the risks.

More immediately, decisive steps should be taken to deter Putin from continued targeting of civilian infrastructures.