Forest fires caused by Russian military strikes and mine detonations engulfed 85 hectares in Kharkiv Oblast, damaging residential areas and prompting civilian evacuations near Izium city.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Ukraine has suffered over €72.9 billion in environmental damage from more than 7,000 recorded environmental crimes, according to Olha Yukhymchuk, Ukraine’s deputy minister of environmental protection. The ongoing destruction continues to devastate Ukraine’s natural ecosystems and wildlife.
According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the blazes started when Russian multiple rocket launch systems hit Borivka community in Izium district, while explosives left by retreating Russian forces continue to detonate within the burning forest.
A massive forest fire engulfed 85 hectares of land in Pishchane Forestry on the outskirts of Izium, damaging a two-story house, a private residence, four garages, and several industrial buildings.
The firefighting efforts are being complicated by strong gusty winds, though the head of Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said the situation remains “controlled.”
In the past 24 hours, Russian forces heavily shelled Kharkiv Oblast, targeting four settlements and Kupiansk city. The attacks resulted in one man’s death in Borova village and wounded four women in Kupiansk. Russian forces deployed 11 guided aerial bombs, 18 unguided aviation rockets, nine Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones, and eight drones of unknown type, according to Syniehubov.
The strikes damaged civilian infrastructure across Izium district, including three administrative buildings, 11 residential properties, a post office, and an educational facility. No casualties have been reported in connection with the forest fire itself.
On 3 March, a Russian drone strike targeted Feldman Ecopark near Kharkiv, killing multiple animals and destroying enclosures in the petting zoo area while damaging nearby civilian homes in Lisne village. Ukraine is investigating these attacks as potential war crimes, viewing them as deliberate efforts to terrorize the population and undermine morale.