![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784460129_892_default.jpg\")
A bird nest made with fibre-optic cables used to communicate with attack drones during the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. (RomanPupenko\/National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Second World War)<\/p>\nHiding out in a bomb shelter in southern Ukraine\u2019s Kherson region, one man readies himself to venture out into the forested front line. But Oleksiy Vasyliuk is not a soldier \u2014 he\u2019s a scientist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vasyliuk and his team conduct their research on an active minefield, facing continuous shelling and aerial drone threats. Doing fieldwork in areas of active combat \u2014 what he calls the \u201cdeath zone\u201d \u2014 comes with monumental risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVery few biologists are prepared to go into these conditions,\u201d Vasyliuk told CBC, speaking from the shelter where local residents have lent scientists the space for the purpose of a makeshift research lab. \u201cBut we feel a responsibility that someone has to study all this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While data is dangerous to come by, biologists have no doubt that Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion is severely impacting Ukraine\u2019s ecosystems, threatening native species with extinction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in battle zones, soldiers are finding bird nests made with the silvery threads of fibre-optic lines used by Ukrainian and Russian troops to guide aerial attack drones.<\/p>\n
A bird nest made with fibre-optic cables used to communicate with attack drones during the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. (RomanPupenko\/National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Second World War)<\/p>\n
Mykhailo Mlechko, an operator-gunner of the Ukrainian army\u2019s Hart Brigade, found one of these nests 10 kilometers from the front line in the Kharkiv region of east Ukraine. Speaking to CBC, he said the cables are so pervasive, he and his comrade weren\u2019t surprised to see birds repurposing the material to weave their nests.<\/p>\n
These birds\u2019 nests are just one example of how modern warfare is reshaping Ukraine\u2019s natural environment. But Vasyliuk, chair of the board of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, urges people not to romanticize them \u2014 fibre-optic cables and anti-drone netting pose an existential threat to bird populations.<\/p>\n
War zone is also hotbed of biodiversity<\/p>\n
According to Vasyliuk, at least 22 plant and 12 animal species are endemic to the area, meaning they don\u2019t live anywhere else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not species that are found all over the planet \u2014 only where active hostility is ongoing,\u201d he said. Due to the sheer destruction, \u201cthere is a probability that we will never see any of these species again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vasyliuk is studying the restoration of forest ecosystems, after the destruction of the Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka Dam<\/a> in June 2023 released 83,000 tonnes of pollutants<\/a> into surrounding waterways.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the critically endangered creatures Vasyliuk is researching is so beloved, it features on commemorative versions of the Ukrainian two hryvni and 10 hryvni coins.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sandy blind mole-rat\u2019s only habitat in the world is along the Dniepro river, which has been an active combat zone since the beginning of the war. The animals rely on echolocation, meaning they are extremely sensitive to the sound of constant bombing.<\/p>\n \u201cFor thousands of years, this animal built its nests, these complex underground colonies \u2026 and now, for four years, uninterrupted explosions take place,\u201d Vasyliuk said.<\/p>\n The sandy blind mole-rat is far from the only species having to adapt to man-made disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hundreds of miles north, the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) has long been a symbol of nature\u2019s ability to thrive without human interference. However, recent remilitarization is changing that.<\/p>\n The endangered Przewalski’s horse, the world\u2019s last remaining wild horse not descended from domesticated breeds, has called the CEZ home since the species was introduced there in 1998.\u00a0<\/p>\n Camera trap data retrieved by soldiers shows that the remilitarization of the area in Northern Ukraine, along the Belarusian border, is having a huge impact on their populations.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to researcher Svitlana Kudrenko, not only are the horses changing their grazing patterns to avoid human activity, making them more vulnerable to predators \u2014 they are also unfortunately heavy enough to detonate anti-tank mines. Three have been killed so far, she said. <\/p>\n Crucial ecosystems in the Black Sea<\/p>\n Organisations such as the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS) take data collected by local scientists in conflict zones all over the world, mapping environmental harm related to military activities and advocating for better protections and policy changes.<\/p>\n Linas Svolkinas is a researcher with CEOBS, specialising in monitoring the effects of military activities in the Black Sea on local keystone species, such as bottlenose dolphins.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey keep the marine ecosystem functioning,\u201d Svolkinas told CBC from the CEOBS office in Leeds, U.K.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Svolkinas, the Black Sea has gone underresearched for a long time due to the surrounding area\u2019s unstable geopolitical situation. Population surveys on dolphins and porpoises, once rare, are now impossible.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll we can do actually is just to count the stranded animals,\u201d he said. Svolkinas said that local biologists have seen huge spikes in strandings since the start of the war, which is mostly likely linked to military activities by Russian naval vessels. Undersea mines, sonar interference and chemical pollutants from incidents like the Nova Kakhovka Dam bombing are causing major disruptions to the Black Sea ecosystem.<\/p>\n Vasyliuk hopes that after the war, restoration efforts will not be \u201cblind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not be able to plant again this forest, because the climate has changed,\u201d he said. \u201cUkraine will be different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Vasyliuk urges policy makers and foreign donors to consider Ukraine\u2019s endemic species when planning for rebuild.\u00a0<\/p>\n Until then, the work of documenting loss continues \u2014 with the hope the knowledge they gain may one day help Ukraine’s recovery. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hiding out in a bomb shelter in southern Ukraine\u2019s Kherson region, one man readies himself to venture out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-812035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784460130_458_default.jpg\")
A sandy blind mole rat, which is an endangered species of rodent only found along the Dniepro river in Ukraine. (csdeant\/iNaturalist)<\/p>\n![\"Horses](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784460130_270_default.jpg\")
Przewalski’s horses near the Red Forest in the Chornobyl exclusion zone in 2021. (Svitlana Kudrenko)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784460131_345_default.jpg\")
The destroyed Nova Kakhovka dam, Beryslav town and Dnipro river bank, dried-up after water level sharply dropped following the collapse of the dam in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are seen from the town of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, July 5, 2023. (Alexander Ermochenko\/Reuters)What can be recovered?<\/p>\n