On August 5, CNN reported that Russia had launched a new missile strike on Kyiv and other surrounding cities and towns in Ukraine. At least 17 people were killed in the attacks, and major retailers, warehouses, and logistics centers were destroyed. Meanwhile, in the town of Brovary, a railway platform was hit by the Russian missile strike. Eight civilians were killed in the attack.
The United Nations has announced that Russian attacks have intensified in Ukraine, stating that July was the “deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since April 2022.” The UN in its report also found that many of these Russian missile strikes and drone attacks have destroyed “homes, schools, public transportation infrastructure, water systems, and humanitarian warehouses.”
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has verified over 65,000 Ukrainian civilian casualties. Additionally, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization reported that, as of July 29, over 500 cultural sites in Ukraine have been damaged. Additionally, a New York Times article stated that over 210,000 residential and public structures have been damaged in Ukraine. Furthermore, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that, as of 2024, at least nine Ukrainian cities have been destroyed during the war. Finally, a joint Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment released in February by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the UN estimated that the total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine is almost $588 billion.
Besides these socio-economic consequences, Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion has impacted Ukraine’s agricultural sector and environment as well. The ecological effects from the war have also had global implications.
Prior to the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine was “one of the world’s top agricultural producers and exporters.” According to 2021 data reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ukraine ranked seventh among global producers for wheat production, sixth for corn production, fourth for barley production, and second for sunflower oil. Ukraine was also ranked first among global exporters in sunflower oil, third among global barley exporters, fourth among global corn exporters, and fifth among global wheat exporters. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture report stated that “more than 55 percent of Ukraine’s land area is arable land.”
Ukraine’s black earth or black soil, known as chernozem, is rich in elements and nutrients, thus making the country very favorable for agricultural production. As a result, Ukraine has tens of millions of acres of cultivated land. (The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that Ukraine has over 60 million hectares of land, 42.5 million of which are used for agriculture.)
The war, however, significantly affected Ukraine’s agricultural production and the environment. For example, Radio France Internationale reported that in 2025 alone, nearly one million hectares of land were scarred by Russia’s full-scale invasion. RFI added that satellite data it acquired had shown that fires consumed nearly one million hectares in Ukraine, roughly a third of which was farmland.
Other problems exist with Ukraine’s arable land. Pollution from vehicles and weapons fired during the war has spewed chemicals into Ukraine’s air, water, and soil, contaminating them. Additionally, 30% of Ukrainian land had “landmines and unexploded ordnance,” making these areas unsuitable for farming. Deforestation and wildfires have contributed to this loss of arable land as well. Greenhouse gas emissions in Ukraine have also increased, thus polluting Ukraine’s air quality.
Damage to Ukrainian facilities and buildings has added to the negative consequences for Ukraine’s agricultural sector and the environment. The Russian shelling of Ukrainian factories has resulted in the damaging of sewage pipes, which have leaked wastewater into Ukraine’s water supply. Sewage pumping stations and sewage treatment plants have also been destroyed throughout the country.
Meanwhile, some Ukrainian farmland has been consumed by flooding. In June 2023, the Nova Kakhovka Dam, which contains a vast reservoir of water used to supply the Crimean peninsula as well as the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, was destroyed. Reuters reported that the flooding covered “tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land in southern Ukraine,” making the land unusable for farming. Additionally, following the dam’s destruction, oil and various chemicals spilled into the reservoir, and hundreds of animals died in the flooding.
Ukraine’s grain exports have also been affected by the war. When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the BBC reported that Russian soldiers were “stealing grain and other produce from local farmers” in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine. Similarly, a Forbes piece published in June 2022 found that Russia was accused of “stealing hundreds of thousands of tons of grain.” These incidents have had a direct impact on global food prices and food distribution worldwide. Aside from the instances of Ukrainian farmland being burned and grain being stolen, at the start of the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation imposed a blockade on the Black Sea, thus disrupting Ukraine’s agricultural exports.
As a result, the Council of the European Union warned that these events had “further aggravated the global food crisis.” The BBC reported that the UN brokered a Black Sea Grain Initiative deal with Russia and Ukraine in 2022, where Russia agreed to lift its blockade on Ukraine’s agricultural exports, but then the deal stopped in the middle of 2023. Most recently, Reuters found on August 4 that Ukraine has started to explore alternative grain export routes as Russian missile strikes and drones have targeted Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and vessels.
Finally, there have been attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. On June 7, NBC News reported that a Russian drone struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. A Russian drone had previously damaged a containment arch over the CNPP in February 2025. Meanwhile, throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency has noted military activity near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. CNN, NPR, and other media outlets have documented assaults by Russian forces on the ZNPP throughout the war as well. Should the attacks on these areas intensify, this would put nuclear safety and security in Ukraine at risk, particularly Ukrainian citizens, wildlife, and terrain. Due to these concerns, representatives from the IAEA are regularly monitoring and documenting the situation.
Given the agricultural and environmental damage caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion since February 2022, the Government of Ukraine is now beginning to seek accountability for this destruction. On April 30, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified the Convention on the Establishment of an International Claims Commission for Ukraine. By May 20, the Council of Europe documented that the Convention had been signed by 38 states and the European Union, and it has also been ratified by six of those signatories.
The Convention will serve as an international compensation mechanism within the framework of the Council of Europe, which will “review, assess, and decide on claims for compensation of damage, loss, or injury caused by internationally wrongful acts committed by the Russian Federation in or against Ukraine.” The Ukrainians are preparing a claim exceeding $57 billion against Russia for wartime greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction.
Now, a mechanism is being created for how Ukraine can submit an arbitration case to be compensated by the Russian Federation for the agricultural and environmental damage caused during the war. How this will work in practice remains to be seen.
As environmental and legal experts debate this new platform, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues. It is unclear when and how the war will end, but continued fighting will only lead to further devastation for Ukrainian citizens and their country.
The Russia-Ukraine War has had a significant impact on Ukraine’s agricultural sector and environment, and it has affected the globe as well. Supporters of Ukraine and observers of the war will be watching closely to see what unfolds from the Convention on the Establishment of an International Claims Commission for Ukraine, and whether it achieves its goal.
