Impact of war on natural and climatic transformation of territories in the irrigation zone of Ukraine

Abstract

The area under irrigation in Ukraine as of 2020 amounted to 551.4 thousand hectares. After the full-scale russian military invasion, 18% of the irrigated area remained under the control of Ukraine. Using remote sensing methods to analyze data from Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites allowed us to identify the consequences of the cessation of farming practices and the Kakhovka reservoir’s drainage. It was found that the lack of irrigation caused the impairment of hydrological conditions on the left bank of Kherson region, which resulted in water scarcity and drainage of water bodies in these territories. The destruction of crop production and soil exposure led to an increase in soil surface heating by 1.45–1.72 times and accelerated evaporation of soil moisture in 80% of the territory. Droughts and active hostilities caused fires in the summer and autumn of 2024 on an area of more than 200 thousand hectares. Droughts and strong winds of 20–30 m/s led to the loss of topsoil (more than 600 t/ ha), with storm epicenters covering 100–3000 hectares. It was proved that military operations, the cessation of farming practices, the Kakhovka reservoir’s drainage, and the destruction of irrigation caused water stress, negative consequences of natural and climatic transformation, and desertification in the irrigation zone of Ukraine.