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Ukraine: War on the Environment by Riccardo Venturi / Akronos APS
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As a special part of the program during Annual Innovation Days 3.0 in April 2026, we were proud to host the photo and video exhibition by UNEP (the UN Environment Programme). This exhibition, titled "Ukraine: War on Environment," provides a powerful and sobering look at the environmental consequences of the russian invasion. Through these photos, you will witness the impact on Ukraine's land and water, and the urgent necessity of a green recovery for the future.
Chernobyl, Ukraine – June 2025
A single puncture is visible on the sarcophagus covering Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The damage, reportedly caused by a Russian drone in 2022, highlights concerns over the exposure of nuclear containment structures in conflict zones.
Pripyat, Ukraine – June 2025
Overgrown trees and vines engulf abandoned Soviet-era buildings in Pripyat. Decades after the 1986 nuclear disaster, the city remains uninhabited—yet nature thrives amid radiation and decay.
Kyiv, Ukraine – June 2025
Residents sift through debris in a residential complex bombed during a night raid that killed 28 civilians. The blast shattered homes and lives, highlighting the ongoing toll on Ukraine’s urban centres.
Zavody, Kharkiv Oblast – June 2025
Utility workers reconnect high-voltage power lines in the rural village of Zavody, where electricity had been cut off following heavy shelling. In many areas of Kharkiv Oblast, residents have taken it upon themselves to request urgent repairs as they attempt to restore a sense of normalcy after weeks without power.
Kharkiv Oblast – June 2025
A World War II memorial, once a local site of remembrance, stands scarred by gunfire from 2022 clashes. The fighting has left physical and symbolic marks across Ukraine’s historical landscape.
Kharkiv – June 2025
An oil depot in Kharkiv lies in ruins after a missile attack triggered a massive fire. The flames spread to nearby residential buildings, killing an entire family and igniting concerns over industrial vulnerability.
Kharkiv – June 2025
Oleksander Timofeyev, owner of the Khimprom chemical plant, surveys the rubble of his destroyed warehouse. The facility specialized in processing industrial plastics and rapeseed oil for biodegradable products before it was obliterated by missile fire in May.
Mykolaiv Region – June 2025
Repair crews work to rebuild the irrigation system that once sustained crops across this region. Destroyed by Russian forces in 2022, its absence has crippled harvests and rural livelihoods.
Mykolaiv – June 2025
Engineers with the municipal utility GorVodokanal restore wastewater lines damaged during airstrikes. The intervention is part of a broader UNEP-backed initiative to reestablish essential services in Mykolaiv.
Novohryhorivka, Mykolaiv Region – March 2025
Olena and Oleksandr stand in front of the ruins of their home in Novohryhorivka, a village heavily bombarded during nine months of frontline fighting. It took them ten years to build the house, where they lived with their children before it was destroyed by shelling. Despite the devastation, they have returned—determined to start over and reclaim a sense of normal life in their community. Now, like others who have returned, they work voluntarily to clear missile debris and unexploded ordnance from nearby fields.
Mykolaiv Region – April 2025
Members of the Norwegian Green Cross conduct demining operations in a field in the Mykolaiv region, where vast areas of farmland remain contaminated by unexploded ordnance. These efforts are essential for restoring agricultural activity and making the land safe again for local communities returning after the occupation.
Mykolaiv Region – March 2025
Workers search through the remains of an agricultural warehouse bombed during an offensive in the east. Among the rubble, they recover irrigation pipes and machinery, hoping to resume operations ahead of the planting season.
Mykolaiv Region – June 2025
Demining teams work to remove unexploded devices from farmland in Mykolaiv region. With agricultural life on hold, clearing the soil of deadly remnants remains a top priority for returning residents.
Khortytsia Island, Zaporizhzhia Region – March 2025
Dead fish lie scattered across rocks in the reservoir along the Khortytsia National Reserve, with the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant (1,569 MW) visible in the background. Following the 2023 destruction of the Kakhovka Dam downstream, the water level here dropped by five meters, exposing islands and rapids, and creating stagnant lagoons. The resulting ecological collapse has severely disrupted local aquatic life.
Dnipro – March 2025
A crater cuts through a quiet street near a secondary school in Dnipro, marking the site where a woman was killed by a missile strike. The bombing occurred one day after an initial round of shelling.
Bohorodychne, Donetsk
Region – March 2025
A destroyed house stands among the wreckage of Bohorodychne, a frontline village in eastern Ukraine. Once home to families, many structures here were leveled during prolonged fighting.
A destroyed house stands among the wreckage of Bohorodychne, a frontline village in eastern Ukraine. Once home to families, many structures here were leveled during prolonged fighting.
Lyman, Odesa Oblast – June 2025
Ivan Rusev, Doctor of Biological Sciences and Head of Research at Tuzlivski Estuaries National Park, walks along a scorched stretch of the Black Sea coastline. A recent fire swept through the protected area, destroying rare coastal habitats. Authorities are investigating possible links to nearby military activity.
Dobropillia, Donetsk Region – March 2025
A missile strike levels part of a residential building in Dobropillia. The attack is one of many in Donetsk Oblast that have targeted civilian infrastructure in recent months.
Sviatohirsk, Donetsk Region – March 2025
A destroyed Russian tank sits amid rubble and debris in the outskirts of Sviatohirsk, near the remnants of what used to be an office or administrative area. Once bordering a protected forest, this semi-urban zone now shows clear signs of heavy fighting.
Bohorodychne, Donetsk Region – March 2025
A collapsed bridge blocks a rural road in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk region—one of many infrastructures destroyed amid continued shelling and clashes in eastern Ukraine. The loss of such critical routes further isolates communities and complicates the delivery of humanitarian aid and emergency response.
Sviati Hory National Park, Donetsk Region – March 2025
Serhiy Pryimachuk, the director of Sviati Hory National Park, walks through a burned section of forest devastated by war. An estimated 9,500 hectares have already been lost to fires, with an additional 10,000 hectares contaminated by mines.
Bohorodychne, Donetsk Region – March 2025
The Skete of the Sviatohirsk Lavra lies in ruins after waves of Russian bombings in 2022 and 2023. Once a place of monastic retreat, the religious site has become emblematic of the war’s toll on Ukraine’s spiritual heritage.
Kharkiv-Donetsk Border Area – March 2025
A wildfire spreads through abandoned agricultural land on the border between Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. With farmland left untended due to conflict and the presence of mines, the risk of uncontrolled fires has escalated, threatening rural communities and biodiversity.
Hetman National Park, Sumy Region – March 2025
Oleksander Kvarta, a senior ranger with the Northern Forest Office, surveys a section of Hetman National Park affected by the war. Once a protected natural area, the park has suffered severe environmental damage due to military activity, with ecosystems disrupted and conservation efforts suspended.
Mykolaiv Region – March 2025
A makeshift depot holds fragments of missiles and drones collected from surrounding fields. Locals regularly stumble upon these remnants of war while tending to the land or walking through villages.
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