Kleczkowska: The legal assessment of acts of environmental warfare during the armed conflict in Ukraine

Agata Kleczkowska (Polish Academy of Sciences - Institute of Law Studies) has published The legal assessment of acts of environmental warfare during the armed conflict in Ukraine (Neue Zeitschrift für Wehrrecht, Vol. 65, no. 2, 2023). Here's the abstract:

Even now, when there is still no end in sight for the armed conflict in Ukraine, the first initiatives aimed at planning the rebuilding of this State are being discussed. One of the key aspects which should be taken into account is the state of the natural environment in Ukraine once the armed conflict is over. While one could rightly claim that the protection of human lives is more important than preserving plants and animals, the latter element is also of great importance: contaminated soil, water and air; destruction of grain fields preventing farming; or flooded residential areas may be critical for the survival of many Ukrainians. It is thus important to highlight Russia’s obligations to protect the environment during armed conflict, as well as to point out the violations committed by Russian forces. The aim of the paper is to discuss these issues by referring to the notion of environmental warfare. This paper is divided into three major parts: the first discusses what environmental warfare is, and introduces the differentiation between direct environmental warfare (IEW) and indirect environmental warfare (IEW). In the next two parts, acts of environmental warfare committed by Russia are qualified as either direct or indirect and assessed from the perspective of international humanitarian law (IHL).