Examples of environmental harm in Ukraine | return to map

Name: Lutsk oil depot
Location: Lutsk, Volyn Oblast

CEOBS database ID: 10738

Context

Lutsk oil depot is situated on the outskirts of the city of Lutsk, 120 km north of Lviv in the northwest of Ukraine. It is owned by West Oil Group (WOG) and comprises twenty six storage tanks and three biogas bags. In spite of being far from the frontlines of the conflict, Lutsk oil depot was attacked in the early weeks of the full-scale invasion, together with similar sites in Rivne, Shepetivka, and Starokostiantyniv.

Timeline of incidents 

An attack on the oil depot was anticipated following an attack on an airbase near Lutsk on the 11th March 2022.

27th-28th March 2022

The oil depot was reportedly struck by missiles at 22:00 local time on the 27th March. 

The depot was not protected by air defences. It was reported that one missile hit a tank at the depot which subsequently exploded, triggering a fire that affected neighbouring tanks and which burned overnight and into the following morning. The emergency service response was reportedly highly complex due to the fire’s size and intensity. The fire was contained by 08:20 the following day and finally extinguished 32 hours after it started. All of the stored oil was reported to have burnt during the fires.

Damage assessment  

Satellite imagery and footage from the emergency services shows that two tanks at the facility were destroyed, each with a reported capacity of 500 tonnes. 

Environmental harm assessment

Large plumes from the fires were visible in satellite imagery, with winds blowing them in an easterly direction away from the centre of Lutsk. Four air quality monitoring stations within Lutsk detected no excess in concentrations of pollutants associated with burning oil. Although smaller settlements, residents of eastwards towns including Sapohove and Borokhiv were likely to have been impacted. 

No direct measurements of the plume composition were possible but similar incidents suggest that there will have been very high concentrations of particulate matter, NOx, nitrous acid, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, VOCs such as formaldehyde, and potentially dioxins, furans and PAHs. The plume was very dark, meaning the particulate matter is likely to have included a high proportion of black carbon – a pollutant or relevance for public health and the climate.

In addition to the oil, it is likely that additional contamination resulted from the aqueous film forming foams used to combat the fires. Many such foams contain PFAS chemicals known to have significant ecotoxicity and environmental persistence.¹

Longer-term implications

Deposits from the substantial smoke plumes are a likely source of long-term pollution, which have the potential to contaminate farmland and consequently food. Deposited pollution can also lead to secondary emissions of air pollution at a later date, through resuspension or soil-air exchange. Oil leaks can infiltrate soils, leaching into groundwater, and contaminating surface water bodies. 

Dis/mis-information watch

Different sources have speculated about whether the depot was targeted alongside food warehouses as part of an ‘economic war’ to starve Ukraine of key resources or as a military target – i.e. under the assumption the fuel may have been useful to the defending Ukrainian forces.

External resources

Ukraine conflict environmental briefing: Fossil fuel infrastructure | CEOBS and Zoï Environment Network

 

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