(Photo : Photo by Aris Messinis / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused many casualties on both sides and various economic effects on the world stage. However, many have expressed concerns that Moscow's potential use of nuclear weapons could severely impact the environment and cause another crisis.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine not only has human and infrastructure casualties but also various environmental effects as experts warn of Moscow's potential nuclear armaments that could lead to further disaster.
When the war began, Narhiza Shkrobotko, who was living in Orikhiv, which was a small-scale city found roughly 100 miles northwest of Mariupol, said she saw a flash of bright light when shells fell in the region. She feared the worst because she was living about 70 miles from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Russia's Potential Nuclear Attacks
In an interview, she shared that she was very scared at the time because of what could happen to the nuclear power plant. The 22-year-old resident said she immediately started trying to get on the internet and figure out if there was any threat to her region. While she found out that the light she saw was not what she feared, it revealed something similarly frightening.
Russia's military forces were responsible for attacking the power plant, with Mar. 3 reports say that it went up in flames due to fighting Ukrainian troops. Moscow's forces gained control of the area and the situation was left precarious, as per USA Today.
Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released a warning that every nation worldwide should take the war seriously and prepare for the possibility that Russia will move forward with the use of nuclear weapons. In an interview, the official said that he and other world leaders should be worried about the horrifying idea.
Furthermore, Zelensky said that Moscow could easily use either nuclear or chemical weapons in its invasion of Ukraine because President Vladimir Putin did not value the lives of its citizens. The Ukrainian president's message is a dramatic shift from his remarks last month. At the time, he said that Putin's threat of using nuclear force if Western nations got involved was simply a "bluff."
According to The Hill, the Ukrainian president's comment came after Putin ordered that his country's nuclear forces be put on higher alert after Zelensky called for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country. In early March, he said that if Russia did use nuclear weapons, it was more than just murder, it was "suicide."
Effects on the Environment
The warnings of the environmental crisis are due to animals and nature being part of the casualties of Russia's attacks. The Black Sea Biosphere, which is located on the southern coast of Ukraine, is a haven for migrating birds. There are more than 120,000 birds that spend the winter in the area, including several rare species; the white-tailed eagle, red-breasted merganser, and black-winged stilt.
Furthermore, many endangered species make the reserve their home, including the sandy bind mole rat, the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin, and even rare flowers. A deputy minister of environmental protection and natural resources in Ukraine, Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, said that the reserve was not being occupied by Russian forces.
The official said that there was currently no information or details on the environmental losses that have occured since Russia's war. Military activity has already caused fires large enough to be seen from space, causing many to express concern regarding the destruction of critical bird breeding habitats, the New York Times reported.
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