Legal Accountability for Environmental Destruction in Ukraine

Mar 7, 2022 | Rachel Killean
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In an open letter published on the 3rd March, the Environmental Peacebuilding Association decried the intentional occupation of nuclear sites, including Chernobyl, and emphasised the risks of military operations for the densely populated country’s human population and natural environment for years and decades to come. 

The occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been described by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office and Security Service of Ukraine as both a terrorist act and the ‘commission of an ecocide’ requiring criminal investigation.

The use of ‘ecocide’ terminology is reflective of both the scale of the perceived risk and Ukraine’s particular legal context. Ukraine is one of a small number of states (including Russia) that have criminalised ‘ecocide’ through domestic legislation.

Russia’s attacks on military structures, urban areas and energy infrastructure have potentially international implications, through the release of widespread pollution into air, water, and onto land. Both Ukraine and the international community have been quick to draw attention to the possibility of future criminal accountability for Russia’s actions.