UfU Information | Issue 6 – October 2022 | Management
Foreword by the management
Dear UfU members, dear friends of UfU, dear interested parties,
You have before you a new issue of UfU Information. A special edition with the title: War and the environment!
Ukraine and Russia have been at war since 2014. More than 10,000 people died in the fighting for territories in eastern Ukraine and Crimea between 2014 and 2021 alone. Since February 2022, Russia has been engaged in a war of aggression, causing the number of casualties to skyrocket. There is talk of tens of thousands of soldiers killed on both sides. In addition, there has been severe devastation of Ukrainian cities, numerous civilian casualties and people on the run.
Ukraine and Russia have been at war since 2014. More than 10,000 people died in the fighting for territories in eastern Ukraine and Crimea between 2014 and 2021 alone. Since February 2022, Russia has been engaged in a war of aggression, causing the number of casualties to skyrocket. There is talk of tens of thousands of soldiers killed on both sides. In addition, there has been severe devastation of Ukrainian cities, numerous civilian casualties and people on the run.
Every day we can read about territorial gains by one side or the other in the news tickers of the major media houses, hear politicians and military leaders give their assessments of the war and discuss with friends and family their own position on arms deliveries and other behaviors during this time.
The aspect of environmental destruction plays a less frequent role in reporting on wars. This may be because it seems irrelevant to the outcome of the war or because it is actually difficult to obtain reliable research results on environmental destruction in war zones.
Wherever armed conflicts are waged, the environment is affected. Sometimes this happens as a side effect, sometimes deliberately to weaken the other side. Burning forests caused by artillery fire, fuel residues in the soil, destruction of crops, contamination of drinking water, dead and displaced animals – the list goes on and on. These and other after-effects can still be felt decades after the end of the war. Environmental damage caused by war can be so extensive that it can only be limited or repaired at enormous expense, but in some cases the damage caused is irreversible. Without wishing to diminish the human suffering caused by war, we would like to focus on this other dark side of war in this issue of UfU Information.
We have also received information from Ukraine for this issue and would like to thank the Black Sea Women’s Club and the organization Ecoaction for the numerous data. May this heinous war come to an end as soon as possible!
Yours
Florian Kliche & Dr. Michael Zschiesche
UfU Managing Director
