The Prosecutor's Office has opened criminal proceedings against the ecocide committed on the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk oblast with the assistance of Russia. This is reported by prosecutor of the Donetsk oblast Yevhen Bondarenko on his Facebook.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Donetsk oblast has submitted information to the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations on the grounds of crime provided for in Art. 441 (ecocide) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pre-trial investigation of the said criminal proceedings is carried out by the SBU in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts under the procedural direction of the prosecutor's office.
"It was established that in April of this year, representatives of the "DNR" pseudorepublic made a decision and announced the termination of pumping out water from the Yunkom mine in Yenakiieve, which is located in the temporarily occupied territory in the village of Bunhe (former Yunokomunarivsk).The occupation administration of the Russian Federation understands that such actions may lead to an ecological catastrophe, which will consist of radioactive and chemical contamination of ground and surface waters of the area and, as a result, to pollution of the Sea of Azov's ecosystem", - the statement said.
Thus, there are signs of committing a crime under Art. 441 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in the actions of representatives of the "DNR" terrorist organization.
The Yunkom mine had a large amount of fumes, 235 gas discharges were recorded from 1959 to 1979, 28 of which resulted in the death of miners. In September 1979, an underground nuclear explosion was carried out in the mine to reduce the likelihood of sudden methane emissions.
A glass capsule with a diameter of approximately 30 m was formed at the site of the explosion, which, according to the conclusions of the expert report, requires relative dryness. The ingress of the radioactive liquid contained in this capsule into the water resources of the terrain through groundwater can lead to an ecological catastrophe, which will consist of radioactive chemical contamination, including of the Sea of Azov's ecosystem.
Ecocide is mass destruction of the plant or animal world, poisoning of the atmosphere or water resources, as well as commission of other actions capable of causing an ecological catastrophe.