CONSEQUENCES OF RUSSIA'S BARBARIC WAR AGAINST UKRAINE IS OUR COMMON EUROPEAN PROBLEM

 

Ihor Chudyk

professor, rector of the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas

 

Ukraine can already include the beginning of a fundamental reformatting of the pan-European energy model among its victories in this war.

 

With the war started against us, russia personally destroyed the myth, that Europe cannot live without its energy carriers. Ukraine showed an example by disconnecting itself from the aggressor's energy system from the very beginning of a full-scale military invasion. Under the enemy's endless aimed fire, we keep the energy sector running. 

 

That is unbelievable horrors, committed by russian army, - the mass murders of peaceful Ukrainians, tortures, abuses of children, the destruction of our cities and villages – that forced European politicians to face the truth: the militarist monster with its machine of propagandizing lies and violence, with disregard of all moral and legal standards, grew stronger on money, paid for russian coal, oil and gas, the share of which in the energy balance of individual EU countries until recently reached to 70%.

 

It also gave rise to the political dependence of these countries on the putin regime through corrupt schemes, when European leaders without any remorse changed their high and respected government positions to the supervisory board members positions of russian energy companies.

 

We paid a high price for the insight of Europe, which still dares to get off the oil and gas "needle" of russian pipelines.

 

Based on the new infrastructure, the Ukrainian energy industry model will also change.

 

According to the official data, almost 20 power units of thermal power stations were damaged, 75% of TPS capacity, 33% of block CHP and 44% of nuclear generation were lost. Captured the largest in Europe Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,  aggressor made the subject of blackmail and threats to the whole world with a nuclear collapse.

 

However, Ukraine remains in force the international commitments made earlier on the decarbonization of thermal and electrical energy production. Although today it looks fantastic - to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% till 2030 due to the ecologically clean energy sources.

 

Nowadays it is impossible to figure out our losses of "green" energy industry. Most of the solar and wind installations are located in the southern regions - Kherson, Odesa, Mykolaiv, where our Armed Forces are having tough fights with the enemy. And also in the temporarily occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and in Crimea.

 

Let me remind, that before the war we actively developed renewable energy sources. Carbon-free generation together with electrical energy from nuclear stations accounted to 70% of the total energy balance in Ukraine. This is a very high indicator, even compared to some European countries.

 

In the incredibly difficult conditions of the military confrontation, we continue to move through the "green transition" - the rejection of fossil fuels in favor of generation on the atom and renewable resources, including "green" hydrogen. Climate-neutral energy industry will continue to form the basis of our updated energy system, which we will mostly rebuild after the Victory. The Ministry of Energy plans to put into service up to 500 MW of such capacities so far this year.

 

Environmental security of the energy sector remains among our top priorities.

 

However, on this path our country needs the help of the international community. The ecological consequences of russia's barbaric war against the Ukrainian people are our common problem.

 

Global challenges have arisen not only in front of Ukraine. Mass shelling by the russian occupiers of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure leads to large-scale destructions, fires and a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Huge amounts of methane entered the atmosphere after russian aggressors blew up trunk gas pipelines in Kharkiv, temporarily occupied city of Lutuhyne, Luhansk Oblast.

Hundreds of tons of combustion products fell into the environment after the devastating shelling of the Kremenchuk oil refinery plant and fuel and lubricants warehouses. The capacities of Odesa and Lysychansk Oil Refineries were damaged.

 

In total, there are more than 20,000 industrial facilities and 3,000 warehouses in Ukraine that store highly toxic wastes. And exactly they become the target for the aggressor.

According to the operational headquarters at the State Inspectorate of Ukraine data, the enemy caused damages for our country’s land, water resources, and atmospheric air for more than $52 billion. And this not the final figure.

 

We still do not know the true scale of industrial disasters caused by russia's military aggression. Specific data are not available due to the impossibility of access to the occupied territories where fighting continues. One thing is clear: the ecological consequences of this barbaric war will touch and have a long-term effect on the entire European ecosystem. Dangerous substances don’t know borders, they are transported thousands of kilometers and settle on the territory of other countries.

Ukraine once again emphasizes, that the entire civilized world must rise up against russia's ecocide, do everything possible for the speedy victory over the aggressor and to stop his not only war, but also environmental crimes.

 

We already have a successful experience in solving extremely complex environmental problems, when, thanks to the scientific and political solidarity of the world community, it was possible to avoid a global catastrophe, which could have been caused in 2010 by one of the biggest industrial accidents in the human history - the explosion of an oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico. In 152 days 5 million barrels of oil leaked into the gulf with terrible consequences for the environment. 

 

Russia's war against Ukraine also poses an environmental threat to all humanity with high risks of not meeting the set climate goals. After all, the global climate strategy of the UN provides, that by 2050 it is necessary to completely stop the emissions of greenhouse gases.

 

The efforts of research centers and universities in Europe must be combined to solve the problems of oil and gas energy and overcome the consequences of russian ecocide and also to implement the resolutions of the UN conferences on climate change.

 

Ukraine holds the energy front. Together with the heroic armed resistance of our troops this is another line of fight against the rashism aggressor for world civilizational values.

We believe in our Armed Forces, in our Victory. We are grateful to the world community for its support, which makes the defeat of putin's russia closer.

 

We also hope for the help in the post-war revival of Ukraine, rebuilding its energy sector and environment clearance of the entire European continent from the consequences of this war.