Ecocide in UkraineDarya TsymbalyukLabel: Polity PressDescription: Winner of the 2025 Kovaliv Prize in Nonfiction/HistoryWinner of the Arizona State University Humanities Institute 2026 Book AwardWinner of the American Association for Ukranian Studies Book PrizeRussia's war on Ukraine has not only destroyed millions of human lives it has also been catastrophic for the environment. Forests and fields have been burned to the ground animal and plant species pushed to the brink of extinction soil and water contaminated with oil products debris and mines. On a single day in June 2023 the breached Kakhovka Dam flooded thousands of kilometres of protected natural habitat as well as villages towns and agricultural land. The devastation of biodiversity and ecosystems across Ukraine has been immeasurable long-lasting and its consequences stretch beyond national borders.In this poignant book Ukrainian researcher Darya Tsymbalyuk offers an intimate portrait of her beloved homeland against the backdrop of Russia's war and ecocide. In elegant and moving prose she describes the damage to the country's rivers the grasslands of the steppes animals insects and colonies of birds as a result of Russia's ground and air operations. Alongside the everyday experiences of people in Ukraine living with the environmental consequences of the war we share Tsymbalyuk's own reckoning with the changing nature of cherished places and the loss of familiar worlds caused by the ongoing Russian invasion.
