© Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times
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© Winnie Au for The New York Times
Russia's war causes both human and environmental disasters. The Ukrainian government plans to demand nearly $44 billion in compensation from Moscow for environmental damage caused by CO2 emissions and the destruction of nature, Reuters reports.
Russian attacks and the fires they cause, large amounts of toxic substances enter the air and soil, many of which are carcinogenic and mutagenic. They include nitrogen oxides, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, benzopyrene, and vapors of sulfuric and hydrocyanic acids.
This would be the first case in history in which a country seeks damages for increased emissions from the use of fossil fuels, cement, and steel in warfare, as well as from the destruction of trees in fires.
According to Dutch carbon accounting expert Lennard de Klerk, Russia’s war against Ukraine has caused approximately 237 million tons of additional CO2 emissions, roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of Ireland, Belgium, and Austria combined.
"A lot of damage was caused to water, to land, to forests," said Deputy Minister of Economy Pavlo Kartashov at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil.
De Klerk estimated the social cost of CO2 emissions at around $185 per ton. Billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets could potentially be used to cover claims from Ukrainian citizens and legal entities, which have already submitted approximately 70,000 compensation applications.
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© Todd Heisler/The New York Times
The Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia is the latest to join a growing list of oil plants stuck offline because sanctions block access to repair equipment.
The shutdown exposes how sanctions and Ukrainian strikes create a deepening crisis.
By late October 2025, drone attacks have damaged 16 of Russia’s 38 refineries, and now Western companies like UOP and ABB, which supplied technology to Russia’s 40 largest refineries, have stopped providing the specialized parts and expertise needed for repairs.
Each new breakdown—whether from combat damage or routine failures—becomes difficult and time-consuming to repair, systematically dismantling the fuel production that finances Russia’s war.
The Ilsky facility, operated by KNGK-Holding, officially cited “scheduled maintenance,” but industry sources told Azerbaijani outlet Vesti.az the plant faced sales difficulties and production cuts driven by sanctions, stalled modernization, and market instability.
This, paired with the inability to acquire specialized equipment to fix refineries, makes every breakdown from a minor nuisance into a huge problem.
As Sergei Vakulenko, a Carnegie Endowment energy analyst, put it: “Just like you can’t replace a faulty clutch in a BMW with a similar part from a Russian-made Lada, the same applies in industry.”
Even refineries that haven’t been hit by Ukrainian drones run at reduced capacity because spare parts and specialist repair crews remain scarce under sanctions. Russia’s few resources are being redirected to repair strike-damaged facilities, meaning undamaged plants cannot maintain full production.
The International Energy Agency says Ukrainian drone strikes have already cut Russia’s refining output by 500,000 barrels per day and will keep processing rates suppressed until at least mid-2026—a timeline that doesn’t account for additional shutdowns like Ilsky.
The fuel shortage has forced Russia to import gasoline from Belarus, and rail deliveries from Russia’s staunchest ally have quadrupled to 49,000 tons monthly as the Kremlin scrambles to supply domestic markets and military operations.
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