Examples of environmental harm in Ukraine | return to map

Name: Izmail Sea Trade Port
Location: Izmail, Odesa Oblast

CEOBS database ID: 11162

Context

Izmail is one of Ukraine’s most important Black Sea trading ports. It sits within the Danube Delta, Europe’s largest wetland, and is in proximity to the UNESCO-protected Danube Biosphere Reserve and the ecologically important Tarutino steppe. The Delta supports important and endangered species.

Timeline of key incidents 

The first strikes against Izmail Port occurred early in March 2022. After the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BCGI) was reached between Ukraine, Turkey and Russia in July 2022, Izmail was spared bombardment until the agreement’s expiration a year later. 

July 2023 onwards

Drone attacks at the port began within a week of the BCGI ending on the 17th July 2023. The first large-scale attack occurred on the night of the 1st August. Three fuel storage tanks were hit and burned for several days, while a grain elevator and several administrative buildings were damaged. The plume length at the peak of fire measured 14 km and 40,000 tonnes of grain was damaged as a result of the attack, contributing to a 6.5% increase in global grain prices. 

Further drone attacks occurred on the 10th, 16th and 23rd of August 2023, resulting in additional damage to grain storage facilities, approximately 13,000 tonnes of grain and to logistics hubs. Attacks continued throughout the Autumn 2023 and Winter of 2024, with 15 strikes reported. 

Beyond the port facility itself, two cargo ships struck naval mines near the mouth of the Danube on the 20th September and 28th December 2023 respectively.

Damage assessment  

Several buildings in the trading port, including a grain elevator, warehouses and a fuel storage facility were badly damaged or destroyed in the drone attacks in August and September 2023.

Environmental harm assessment

The fires on the 1st-2nd August led to significant emissions to the air and resulted in soil contamination with hydrocarbon products around the tanks. Oil fires release a range of pollutants, including metals, PAHs, VOCs and black carbon. The proximity of the tanks to the River Danube increases the likelihood that pollutants may have entered the river through surface runoff. The plumes from the fires reached Romanian territory and fallout from them may have affected the villages of Plauru and Pardina.

The 1st August attacks also resulted in 40,000 tonnes of damaged grain, which is likely a small fraction of the total damaged by all attacks on the port. Damaged grain requires appropriate management and disposal as it is associated with a range of potential environmental and biological risks. Ukraine’s capacity to provide this is unclear.

Sea mines have been deployed in the Black Sea by both conflict parties. Damage to vessels threatens pollution incidents from their cargo and fuel. Mines have also been pushed by tides into the Delta’s estuaries, where they have detonated in areas being rewilded, causing fires in the dry woodlands.

Longer-term implications

The Delta areas support thousands of species, some of which are endangered. While it has not been subject to heavy fighting, the conflict has increased marine traffic to the Delta ports due to the closure of Ukrainian Black Sea ports to the north, increasing chemical and acoustic pollution, the risk of invasive alien species and habitat disturbance. While the BSGI was in place, Izmail handled nearly a third of Ukraine’s agricultural exports. Disruption to Ukraine’s agricultural exports is thought to have contributed to biodiversity loss globally by accelerating land conversion and intensification in response to rising commodity prices. The conflict has also disrupted a range of landscape restoration and conservation projects in the Delta itself. 

Undetected sea mines will pose a long-term environmental threat, both from causing sinkings and through corrosion over time and the dispersal of their constituents.  

External resources

Fighting for wildlife in a time of war  | Hakai Magazine

Danube Delta | Rewilding Europe

Tarutino Steppe | Rewilding Europe

 

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