Examples of environmental harm in Ukraine | return to map
Name: Bilohorivka river crossing
Location: Bilohorivka, Luhansk Oblast
CEOBS database ID: 10747
Context
A meander on the Siverskyi-Donets River, 2 km north of the village of Bilohorivka that was chosen for a military crossing of the river. The area sits within Kreminna Forest National Natural Park, an area of natural conservation home to numerous species of plants, deciduous trees, and wildlife, many of which are rare or at risk of extinction. The forest has been impacted by war since 2014.1
Timeline of key incidents
Military intelligence had anticipated a river crossing in the days building up to the 8th May 2022, given that the Siverskyi-Donets presented a natural barrier to troops advancing through Luhansk Oblast to encircle Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.
In an attempt to obscure the specific location of the crossing, military forces burned trees and set off smoke munitions in forest areas that run alongside the river. Regardless, social media accounts and satellite imagery detail that at least one bridge was constructed on the morning of the 8th May 2022 in the anticipated area. Reports suggest a small number of military personnel and their equipment successfully crossed the bridge by the time artillery shelling and airstrikes began.
Reportedly, up to three separate crossing attempts took place before the 11th May at the same location. It is not clear whether they all occurred on the 8th May, or over several days, as it is a rural and data-poor area. However, satellite imagery from the 23rd May shows the ruins of three separate pontoon bridges in the same area. Accounts of the failed crossing attempts detail substantial losses of materiel.2 Invading forces eventually progressed south from the east bank towards Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, removing the need for a risky river crossing, occupying both by late June. The area of Bilohorivka remains a frontline in the war as of April 2024 but no significant incidents have occurred in the same area since May 2022.
Damage assessment
As well as three pontoon bridges, 93 pieces of military equipment were estimated to have been destroyed during the failed crossing. According to military analysts, this includes 51 tanks,3 and two boats, as well as 40 trucks, personnel carriers, repair and recovery vehicles and support vehicles.
The European Forest Fire Information System estimated that fires burned across 220 hectares in Kreminna Forest between the 7th-11th May 2022,4 while satellite imagery shows approximately 16 km2 of open land was impacted by craters from heavy shelling. In addition, numerous buildings in the vicinity of the crossing site were destroyed, most significantly the Bilohorivka water intake 1 km to the south, from where water is pumped to settlements in the north of Luhansk.
Environmental harm assessment
The quantity of military materiel destroyed or damaged has the potential to cause long-term harm to the riverine and terrestrial area surrounding the failed crossing.5
Destroyed military vehicles have likely released heavy metals, motor oil and fuel; and persistent organic pollutants such as PAHs and PCBs. Munitions used, destroyed, or abandoned at the crossing have released, or are likely to release energetic compounds such as TNT, RDX and HMX,6 in addition to propellants,7 and heavy metals.8 The environmental fate of these toxic remnants of war, especially the energetic compounds, is complex,9 can worsen over time and is dependent on the site of their release.
A significant volume of pollutants will have entered the Siverskyi-Donets – for instance images of the event show oil leaking from vehicles. Pollution from this incident will have added to legacy contamination from industrial activities across the Siverskyi-Donets basin, as well as from other sources associated with the conflict. Petroleum hydrocarbons from fuel will likely have a toxic effect on aquatic ecosystems downstream, and risks contaminating surface water. The river supplies 85% of the water used by the Donbas Water Company, the region’s main public provider.
The pollutants will likely cause significant contamination of soil, groundwater and vegetation in the area surrounding the crossing point. The land and riverbanks also suffered from physical damage, with widespread cratering, tracks from heavy vehicle movements, and the burning of vegetation and soil. Together with the pollution, the rich habitat in Kreminna Forest National Natural Park has been significantly impacted.
Longer-term implications
As of April 2024 the site remained in occupied territory, making it inaccessible for independent field assessment and remedial or restoration activities. The soil and groundwater are likely to remain hazardous without any intervention, especially given the stability of the explosive pollutants. There is a possibility of further contamination from unexploded ordnance, particularly on the river bed, both at the crossing and downstream locations. Unexploded ordnance also impedes access and creates threats to wildlife. The quantity of debris risks disrupting the natural flow of the river, with imagery showing permanent alteration to its geomorphology including the formation of a small island in the river since the incident.
Dis/mis-information watch
Given the difficulty of ascertaining specific details of the crossing attempts, different suggestions of the scale of Russian losses were proposed. These included rumours in the immediate aftermath that as many as 1,500 soldiers were killed and as few as 50 military vehicles were destroyed. Estimates with a greater evidence basis have been used in this article, although these cannot be easily verified.
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- It should be noted that Kreminna Forest National Natural Park was only designated that status in 2019. It was founded on the basis of the Siverskyi-Donetsk National Nature Park which existed between 2009 and 2010, when the resolution decreeing its protected status was deemed illegal.
- Reasons suggested for the disastrous nature of the attempt include poor Russian training, leadership, and an underestimation of Ukrainian military intelligence and artillery capacity.
- 18 T-72B-series MBT and 33 BMP-1/2 Variant
- Extent of burnt areas estimated using European Forest Fire Information System, at coordinates 48.9622,38.2130.
- There was a huge loss of life associated with the failed crossing. The dead bodies are unlikely to pose an environmental health risk.
- 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 that 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, is 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. There still remain high concentrations of copper, iron, lead, and zinc in the soils of WWI battlefields, even in 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) and this can be highly toxic.
- The transportation and chemical transformations are governed by : 1) the inherent properties of the compounds, like solubility and vapour pressure; 2) the nearby presence of energetics-degrading microorganisms; and 3) the local environment, especially soil type, weather and hydrogeology. Contaminants may partition between multiple media – water, air, soil and biosphere.
