In mid-August, in the middle of the war, the world learned that the capital of Ukraine, kyiv, and its 4 million inhabitants were threatened by serious pollution affecting the Desna River, through its tributary, the Seïm, coming from from Russia. The intervention of the authorities, the treatment of the water, the collection of 43 tons of dead fish and the information from the riverside communities prevented the poisoning of the neighbors and the drinking water network. On September 10, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmyhal claimed that the contamination was organic and not chemical, contrary to certain public statements. He then declared, without giving details, that Russia was at the origin of this catastrophe.
the world has carried out its own investigation on this matter by visiting the towns affected by this possible ecocide, consulting the experts mobilized on the pollution and accessing confidential reports written by scientists on this catastrophe, whose weak response is largely due to the noise of the ongoing conflict. It seems that, although the exact origin of the products dumped in the Seïm has been identified, to date the cause of this spill is unknown. Several hypotheses are accepted: an intentional act by Russian soldiers or civilians; the consequence, deliberate or collateral, of an armed operation carried out by Russia or Ukraine; and, finally, an accident.
At the end of October, nothing appears on the banks of the Seïm, at the foot of the town of Batouryn, 120 kilometers east of Chernihiv, in the north of the country. A great calm and a certain gentleness even welcome the visitor. The clear water flows calmly under a suspended walkway that connects the two shores. It has been back to normal since the beginning of the month. Only a few black marks on the bottom, along the edges, and oily residue floating on the surface attract attention. “It’s misleading.corrects Leonid Dusha, 62 years old, mayor for ten years. La Seïm is dead. There are no more fish, no traces of life. Experts told us that it would take at least ten years to return to the previous state. »
The water turned black as coal.
From the top of a tower in the fortified area that dominates this large town of 2,500 inhabitants, in normal times we can see the meanders of the Seïm rising towards the Russian border. From there came, on the afternoon of August 25, a foul smell that invaded the entire city, followed by water that had turned black as coal in which all forms of life had disappeared. The contamination was detected on August 14 in Manukhivka, the first Ukrainian town after the Russian border. “The mayors, upstream, alerted me, I was able to warn the population”Leonid Dusha relates.
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