Examples of environmental harm in Ukraine | return to map
Name: Ammunition store in Khrustalnyi
Location: Khrustalnyi, Luhansk Oblast
CEOBS database ID: 10663
Context
Pro-Russian forces first occupied the area surrounding the mining town of Khrustalnyi in April 2014.1 Its proximity to the front lines in January 2015, and during the February 2022 invasion, made it strategically important and led to an influx of Russian personnel and materiel.2 The industrial plant in the north of the city became an ammunition storage site. Previously, it had been a producer of specialist hydroacoustic and navigational equipment for ships.
Timeline of key incidents
16th June 2022
On the evening of the 16th June 2022, the ammunition store was attacked with ballistic missiles. After the first explosion was reported in local Telegram groups, the ensuing smoke plume grew very rapidly, engulfing the skies above the city. The resulting detonations and fires could not be controlled and continued well into the night, suggesting that the strike affected the entire stock of stored ammunition, thought to be up to 1,000 tonnes. The remains continued smouldering for several days.
Damage assessment
The main building within the compound was completely destroyed, along with several adjacent subsidiary buildings including an electrical substation; a large crater is visible at its centre. Several blocks of low-rise residential buildings to the east of the facility were destroyed by the ensuing fire, which also resulted in a large area of burnt ground and disturbed soil.
Environmental harm assessment
The detonation and burning of large ammunition stores has been common during the conflict.3 What is more uncommon is for this to happen in a large urban centre. Analysis of the near-surface wind direction indicates that smoke was likely to have been dispersed southwards and westwards across the entire city,4 rather than to the rural areas to the north and east. People will potentially have been acutely exposed to very high concentrations of harmful gases and particles in the smoke plume and dust cloud. Acute airborne exposure to these pollutants may have triggered poor health episodes, although the exposure risks associated with large explosions at ammunition storage areas require further research.5
The exact nature of the stored ammunition is unknown but will have significantly influenced any potential health and environmental risks.6 Unfortunately there was no ground monitoring of air quality at the time to provide specific concentrations.7 Overall, it is difficult to remotely assess the health impact from acute exposures to the smoke, which may have been exacerbated by chronic exposures.8
The surrounding soils are likely to have been contaminated with energetic compounds including TNT, RDX and HMX,9 in addition to propellants,10 and heavy metals.11 The vegetation surrounding the site was heavily impacted, with scores of trees killed and widespread burning of vegetation and damage to topsoil.
Longer-term implications
It is likely that without intervention, contaminants from the detonated explosives will persist in the environment for many years and will disperse into soils and groundwater. However, the precise impacts of the incident will be very difficult to independently assess whilst the area remains occupied by Russian forces.
External resources
Environmental Impact of Munition and Propellant Disposal | NATO RTO
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- The name of the town was Krasnyi Luch, which translates as ‘Red Ray’, until 2013, and it is still often referred to by this name.
- Khrustalnyi received a renewed influx of Russian munitions, supplying the 2nd Army Corps, due to its position along the supply line to the frontlines around Donetsk and Horlivka, less than 100 km west.
- Inspection of footage posted on Telegram after the incident, and comparison to verified imagery on the Open Source Munitions Portal, did not provide a great deal of evidence as to the exact types of ammunition stored there, though some of the spent rounds bear similarity to those used with a 122mm calibre weapon. Russian commentary in the aftermath of the incident suggested that 152mm shells and ammunition for Multiple Launch Rocket Systems were also present.
- Using the HYSPLIT trajectory model run hourly from 16:00 UTC on 16 June 2022 to 04:00 UTC on 17 June 2022. Graphical output from our model runs can be found here. This analysis agrees with footage of the smoke plume posted on Telegram on 16 June 2022 at 16:56 UTC. The position of the camera was geolocated to 48.1680, 38.8918, with a view to the east, indicating a southerly wind direction.
- Unintentional explosions at ammunition storage areas are rare, though potentially increasing with climate change, yet very little exists on the specific environmental threats, in particular from acute exposure to the plumes of smoke and dust generated. Some research on explosions in South-Eastern Europe has been undertaken, though the environmental assessments were very high level, focusing mostly on UXO and debris. Some insights can be found from emissions factors reported to the US EPA for various types of munitions, broken down into pollutant type – for example, Rockets, Rocket Motors, And Igniters. Whilst there has been reporting and compliance investigations on inhalation exposures from open burning of munitions in the US, this considers more chronic exposures, not acute exposures at extreme concentrations. An academic hypothesised in 2004 about how such acute exposures could lead to ‘Organic Energetic Compound Syndrome’, but there was, to our knowledge, no specific follow on research.
- A wide range of energetic compounds, heavy metals and propellants are used in high-explosive munitions, the environmental risk analysis would be further complicated by the presence of incendiary munitions, many of which have toxic constituents, or by kinetic energy penetrators containing depleted uranium.
- Ground-based monitoring of air quality via the SaveEcoBot network no longer extends to the Donbas since their annexation by Russia in 2022.
- A 2022 report from UNDP examined the environmental health and associated socio-economic costs of poor air quality in Ukraine’s urban areas. The Donbas region had some of the lowest quality air in Ukraine prior to the 2022 invasion, which is closely linked to its industrial legacy, particularly around coal-fired power stations supplied by the region’s coal mines and heavy industry such as Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. We found no records on social media of health related effects, including from the explosion. However, Russian media reported that 10 people were killed, including 3 civilians.
- TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) is used as a booster for high-explosive munitions and is highly chemically stable. This means it can remain in the soil even as UXO casings degrade, having long-term vegetation and human health impacts – high concentrations are still found at WWI battle sites. The US EPA classifies TNT as a possible human carcinogen, and exposure to even low concentrations can lead to long term health impacts including abnormal liver function and anaemia. Exposure is typically through drinking contaminated water – the level of groundwater contamination is more significant in sandy soils, whereas in high carbon soils TNT rapidly degrades and so is largely contained to the site of contamination. However, this chemical and microbiological decomposition can produce harmful derivatives, in particular DNT (2,4-dinitrotoluene). DNT is highly toxic, more so than TNT itself, and is listed by the US EPA as a priority pollutant in aquatic environments. RDX, Royal Demolition Explosive (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) is another chemically and thermally stable compound. It is both less soluble and susceptible to degradation than TNT, and this makes it more likely to migrate through soils and contaminate groundwater. Plants, including crops, take up RDX, yet because they cannot naturally degrade it, they become a potential contaminant redistribution source. This can be through fire, cuttings, or by being eaten – RDX can then start to bioaccumulate in the food chain, posing risks to wildlife and humans. Results from liver and lung animal studies suggest RDX is potentially carcinogenic, though there is no data for humans. It can be toxic when ingested. Structurally similar to RDX is HMX, High Melting Explosive (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine), which is used in artillery shells and plastic explosives. It is even less soluble, though is also less toxic in the environment.
- Energetic materials contain propellants which include: nitroglycerin, which is relatively safe; nitrocellulose, is highly soluble and can quickly migrate into groundwater though is less toxic than RDX and TNT; nitroguanidine, similar to nitrocellulose but can lead to eutrophication where degraded by sunlight; and ammonium perchlorate, which causes the most significant and long-term groundwater contamination.
- Heavy metals remain present for significant periods – still there remain high concentrations of copper, iron, lead, and zinc in the soils of World War 1 battlefields, even areas not shelled as intensively. There are also high concentrations of arsenic. From more modern battlefields an additional heavy metal contaminant is depleted uranium (DU), which is both radioactive and chemically toxic.
