Russia-Ukraine war: Latest news as conflict continues | Yahoo UK (original) (raw)

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Ukraine's vast forests devastated in hellscape of war

STORY: These are the smoldering remains of pine trees in Ukraine’s Sviati Hory national park.Ranger Serhiy Tsapok cared for the octogenarian trees for almost 20 years. He used to love his daily drives through the forest.“Now when I'm driving, it's better to just stare at the road. If I were to look to one of the sides, I would see something that would tear my soul apart.”Officials say four-fifths of the park’s more than 29,000 acres are damaged, destroyed or contaminated with mines and ordnance. But that’s a drop in the ocean of the damage caused by the war with Russia.The conflict has brutalized much of Ukraine's 24 million acres of forest and landscape. Troops on both sides blast thousands of shells at each other every day, shredding the earth in grinding combat.And innovations in warfare are further decimating the landscape.:: FileUkraine's 108th Territorial Defense brigade posted videos of a drone trying to flush out Russians by spraying a red-hot substance onto trees below, setting the woodland alight.The job of tending the forest has become perilous, ex-environment minister Ruslan Strilets explains. “If we want to extinguish a fire quickly, it's impossible because the entire territory is mined. There is a risk of being killed or maimed.”One ranger nearly lost a foot after stepping on a mine - he managed to crawl back to the car and drive home. Reuters spoke to nearly 20 specialists who provided a detailed picture of the ruin wrought on Ukraine’s forests. Russian authorities didn't respond to requests for comment. After 31 months of war, all that remains of many forests in eastern Ukraine are fields of stripped, broken trunks.It’s torn through the habitats of much of the local wildlife - including a globally endangered species of wild horse.And while protecting the environment isn’t the highest priority for a country trying to repel an invading army…Experts have raised great concerns about the ongoing destruction’s impact - and the bleak natural legacy left behind.