Images source: Elena Tita / the Collection of war.ukraine.ua & Serhii Nuzhnenko (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) / the Collection of war.ukraine.ua
Russia has committed, and continues to commit, military ecocide.
The large-scale Russian invasion has led to severe environmental devastation in Ukraine. Russia is causing widespread destruction of wildlife, plants, and pollution of air and water resources. Let's support those who are working to protect animals and nature in war-torn Ukraine.
Ecocide on a grand scale
Serhii Nuzhnenko (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) / the Collection of war.ukraine.ua
According to data from the non-profit organization UAnimals, as reported on the petition page stopecocideukraine.org, Russia has caused the deaths of an estimated 6 million animals and severely contaminated over 182,000 square meters of land with hazardous chemicals.
Serhii Nuzhnenko (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) / the Collection of war.ukraine.ua
War machinery has burned at least 680,000 tons of oil products, resulting in severe air pollution. With a significant portion of the fighting occurring from the air, the impact on nature is felt across the entire territory of Ukraine, with 20% of the land now in critical condition.
Help animals in Ukraine
Makslivin
In the war in Ukraine, animals have become targets of some of Russia's most heinous atrocities. According to the Ukrainian government, Russia deliberately attacks civilian sites, including dog shelters and horse stables. When Russian soldiers retreated from the Kyiv region in 2022, they left behind the shot corpses of cattle, horses, goats, and even domestic dogs. By targeting animals, Russia has found another way to inflict pain on the Ukrainian people—not by starvation, but by breaking their hearts.
The injustice of the suffering that war causes animals is truly unspeakable. A deer burned by artillery fire does not understand the cause of its pain.
picture alliance / AA
Since the war began, the number of stray animals has surged, more than doubling in the hardest-hit areas. This has become a significant problem. When people are evacuated, they often can't take their pets with them, and tragically, some pet owners do not survive. As a result, the number of abandoned animals continues to grow. These animals suffer from hunger and disease and are frequently caught in Russian shelling.
Animals are often evacuated at the request of soldiers who find them in dire conditions—injured, frightened, malnourished, and disoriented. One organization that works to rescue and care for these animals is UAnimals, which our foundation financially supported in 2022.
Help with VAKOVAKO
100% of the funds donated by you are redistributed by us between Ukrainian shelters, rescue stations and animal shelters. Even a small donation will help the people of Ukraine to ease the pain caused to animals by this merciless war.
Let us not forget those who cannot protect themselves.
Donate with VAKOVAKO.
