THE IMPACT OF THE FULL-SCALE INVASION OF RUSSIA INTO UKRAINE ON THE SECURITY OF THE REGION: URBICIDE AND ECOCIDE OF UKRAINIAN CITIES

Abstract

Background. The concepts of urbicide and ecocide are key in russia's war against Ukraine, as they mean a planned attack on the created urban and ecological environment. Although the concepts are quite new and attracted attention only at the end of the 20th century, in Ukraine, they began to be actively discussed in scientific circles only with the full-scale invasion of russia and the spread of war throughout the territory of our country. The purpose of the study is to analyze the impact of the full-scale invasion of russia into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, on the security of the region from the standpoint of considering the concepts of urbicide and ecocide of Ukrainian cities and settlements. The main tasks of the work involve the characterization of the concepts of urbicide and ecocide; understanding the peculiarities of urbicide and ecocide in Ukraine, and offering certain recommendations for the implementation of relevant programs to mitigate the consequences of such processes.

Methods. Qualitative methods of a non-standardized nature, focused on revealing cause-and-effect relationships, involve meaningful analysis of sources regarding the subject of research (discussion).

Results. The author considered the phenomenon of urbicide and cited three types of situations that allowed dividing the understanding of urbicide into natural, anthropic, and symbolic. It was found that Ukraine is characterized by anthropogenic urbicide as a result of russia's military actions. According to statistical data and official information from the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, direct damage to the country's residential and non-residential property from the actions of the aggressor reached $127.0 billion for six months of the war, and for almost a year of the war, the consequences of ecocide amounted to more than $46 billion. Moreover, ecocide, as an instrument of severe crimes against humanity, for this reason alone is the most dangerous criminal act, standing out from a number of anthropogenic environmental disasters.

Conclusions. Although the regulation of ecocide in international law is provided for only in the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, there are no clear references to urbicide in international and humanitarian law. That is why developing competent national institutions capable of coping with the various challenges of urbicide and ecocide is a prerequisite. Also, this institutional development needs greater international cooperation with such participants as the UN, the EU, and the World Bank.