The ongoing environmental impact of the Kerch Strait oil spill

In December 2024 two Russian oil tankers spilled 4,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil in the Kerch Strait, Crimea. Persistent and difficult to clean up, the oil threatens northern Black Sea ecosystems. Iryna Babanina examines how the situation is developing six months on and how the war influenced the disaster.

Wartime geomorphological damage and geodiversity loss in Ukraine

Huge swathes of Ukraine’s geological heritage have been affected by fighting or militarily occupied, in many places causing irreversible damage. CEOBS’ Rob Watson and Stella Shekhunova of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine examine the nature and extent of this loss of geodiversity.

Mapping the vulnerability of Ukraine’s groundwater

As part of the continual refinement of our remote assessment methodology for our Ukraine incident database, we often integrate new features and tools. Rob Watson and Jay Lindle introduce our latest project – a map of how vulnerable Ukraine’s groundwater is to pollution caused by the conflict.