Ukraine
‘I want to stand up again’: Wounded Ukrainian veterans on the road to recovery
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, tens of thousands of people — both soldiers and civilians — have been injured. Many of the people who have lost limbs are military veterans who are now going through rehabilitation. The World’s Daniel Ofman recently visited Lviv, where many of those veterans are receiving treatment.
Flooding from Ukraine’s ‘Hero River’ may be a silver lining of war
In order to prevent Russian troops from advancing toward Kyiv, Ukrainian forces destroyed a dam on the Irpin River early on in the war. The flooding, as it turned out, created new wetland areas. Some conservationists hope to see the wetlands stay. Even residents whose cellars remain flooded are glad the water came and the Russian troops did not.
The environmental cost of war in Ukraine
Nearly a year and a half into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its impact has been felt most acutely in lost lives, flattened cities and destroyed infrastructure. But the environmental damage from combat has also contaminated Ukraine’s soil, water and air, at a cost the government is estimating to be $56 billion. This impact is likely to be one of the longest-lasting legacies of the war, persisting for decades after the fighting stops.