War in Ukraine: Russian invasion kills thousands of dolphins in Black Sea

“Thousands of dead dolphins washed ashore in the Black Sea,” it says. Volodymyr Zelensky In a post on social media, the statement was broadcast by United24, the online crowdfunding platform he launched in early May. “The Russian war has a great impact on the fauna of our country”, the Ukrainian president lamented its “catastrophic effects” on ecosystems.

Volodymyr Zelensky said the relevant environmental protection authorities should “collect evidence of these crimes and hold Russia accountable for this ecocide in Ukraine.”

According to the scientific director of the Lagunes de Touzly National Park (South-West), the report states that the slaughter of dolphins in the Black Sea has been delayed, especially due to the “presence of submarines and warships”. February, which has “caused enormous stress on the marine environment.”

“We estimate that 50,000 dolphins died because of the war,” announced Ivan Roussev, of which 2,500 “were found in the Odesa region (on the beaches), in the annexed Crimea, but also in Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania. This is 20% of the population of this cetacean in the Black Sea, which in 2020 was recorded at 250,000. done and it is already under pressure from fishing and pollution, according to Ukrainian officials.

According to Ivan Rusev, who keeps a well-followed Facebook diary on the effects of the war on fauna and flora, some species of birds were also forced to “migrate” earlier in the year, pushed by the effects.Missile It fell in the eastern part of the national park”.