A Russian missile appeared near an attacking bull in New Yor

Activists of the Ukrainian organization UAnimals placed a sculpture of a Russian missile next to a furious bull on Wall Street. The pop-up installation is designed to draw attention to the ecocide that Russia is committing during the war in Ukraine.

 “Through this action, we are reconsidering a popular sculpture to show that even an angry bull can turn out to be nothing more than a frightened animal running away from war,” says UAnimals founder Oleksandr Todorchuk. “During a full-scale invasion, Russia is killing not only people, but also millions of animals and the ecosystem in general. To fight this crime, we launched an international campaign #StopEcocideUkraine”.

As part of the campaign, the UAnimals organization calls on the European Parliament, the United Nations, the parliaments of partner states, international organizations and institutions to condemn Russia’s actions, to help stop environmental crimes, to introduce additional sanctions against the Russian Federation, to help restore the ecological security of Ukraine and its environment, as well as help in the restoration of the Ukrainian ecosystem during the war and in the post-war period, including by implementing the instrument of reparations.

In total, during the eight months of the war, as evidenced by the data of the State Environmental Inspection of Ukraine, the aggressive actions of the Russian Armed Forces led to the fact that:

–       182,880 m2 of soil is contaminated with harmful substances; 

–       2,365,129 m2 of land is covered with the remains of destroyed objects and ammunition; 

–       80,618 tons of petroleum products were burned during the shelling, which resulted in significant air pollution; 

–       23,286 hectares of forest were burned by rockets or shells – it will take at least 10 years to restore part of the forest area;

–       7,155,689 m2 of objects were destroyed, including critical infrastructure, which also caused significant damage to Ukraine’s environment. 

The Russians occupied 8 nature reserves and twelve national natural parks.

You can take a step towards punishment of Russia for environmental crimes during the war right now by signing an international petition to the UN and the EU.

https://www.change.org/p/stop-ecocide-in-ukraine-punish-russia-for-the-crimes-against-environment