Interspecies Relations in the Midst of the Russia–Ukraine War

In: Current history: a journal of contemporary world affairs, Band 122, Heft 847, S. 301-307

Abstract

To convey the scale of destruction that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused to animals, plants, and ecosystems, analysts frequently use national-scale maps, aggregate figures, and the concept of ecocide. Although necessary, these moves risk portraying Ukraine exclusively as a zone of catastrophe, while obscuring the character of on-the-ground socioecological relations. This article enlarges the space for environmental narratives about war between catastrophe, heroism, and resilience by describing interspecies encounters along Odesa's Black Sea Coast, in the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve, and in the Kharkiv Region.