“Ecocide in Wartime Ukraine,” a pop-up exhibit at the CU Art Museum Feb. 20, shows through images and interactive displays how the ongoing war has environmentally devastated the country

Feb. 24 will mark the four-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine—a devastating anniversary marking the escalation of a longtime conflict into a war that has not abated in devastation or loss.

A sometimes-overlooked aspect of the wartime devastation is the environmental destruction: ruined farmland, poisoned waterways, endless plains of rubble. These losses will be featured in “Ecocide in Wartime Ukraine,” a pop-up interactive exhibit and reception from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, at the CU Art Museum.

 

The exhibit—sponsored by Svidok.org, Ukrainians of Colorado and the University of Colorado Boulder International Affairs Program—includes largescale photos of the environmental destruction that has happened in Ukraine since the war began along with descriptions and QR codes that participants can scan to learn more.

During Friday’s exhibit, Roman Oleksenko, a community development program manager for Peace Corps Ukraine, will join virtually from Ukraine. Since the full-scale Russian invasion, Oleksenko, who lives in Kyiv with his family, has been volunteering with a non-profit called Ukrainian Action, which delivers humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

U.S. Rep Joe Neguse has said he will attend Friday’s event, as will Boulder businessman and philanthropist Michael Brady, who will talk about his recent trip to Ukraine.

Layers of tragedy

“Ecocide in Wartime Ukraine” was originally proposed by Mark Dillen, a former diplomat with the U.S. State Department who now is director of public affairs for Ukrainians of Colorado. Sarah Sokhey, a CU Boulder associate professor of political science and Eurasia specialist, met Dillen at an event “and he knew about the availability of these posters through this organization,” she explains.

In one photo, a red truck traverses a dirt road between two charred fields as smoke billows behind it. “Ukraine’s fertile land, which helps feed much of the world, is being burned and razed to the ground by Russian attacks,” the description notes.

Another photo shows a person hugging a gray cat, and the description is in their words: “On the day the Kakhovka dam was blown up, water began to arrive quickly at 10 pm. People tried to save their property. My grandfather, who had just lost his wife (whose body likely could not find peace due to the flooding and erosion of the cemetery) carried things from his house from 10pm until 4am. Just imagine being forced to swim in cold water all night, in your 70s, with kidney problems and prostatitis.

“My grandfather had chickens, rabbits, and dogs. Our lop- eared Scottish cat, just a huge feline with whom I grew up, simply drowned, and no one helped him. He just drowned in the water. My other cat, also Scottish, but with straight ears, disappeared, and I'm still looking for him. The same thing happened to my sheepdog.”

“There are so many layers of tragedy happening in Ukraine, and I think highlighting any of those is important,” Sokhey says. “Now that we’re four years since the full-scale invasion and still the war is going on, as bad as it’s ever been, it can be hard to know what to emphasize. An aspect of the war that we thought people were missing is the long-term environmental damage—what it means for people living there, what it means for trying to rebuild after war.

“We hope people will come away with a better appreciation of the scale of destruction and the ongoing level of destruction and what that means for people’s quality of life. I don’t know that it’s all reversible, so I think seeing the scale of tragedy and the human impact is really important.”

Sokhey, who asked Oleksenko to join the exhibit, says he readily agreed, but with the caveat that he wants people to know that "'our daily thoughts are not about the environment right now,’” she says. “He’s in Kyiv, which is being attacked regularly, so for him and a lot of people it’s a day-to-day survival issue. While we want people to understand the scale and scope of environmental damage, we also want people to be aware of the human element. A lot of people don’t have the bandwidth to worry about these issues right now when they’re trying to get food and stay warm and stay alive.

“We want to document and note the environmental destruction because a lot of people in Ukraine can’t even think about that right now. They don’t have the luxury of thinking that long-term. That’s how bad it is.”

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