Food and Water Defense – Insights from the Russia-Ukraine War for (Highly) Mobile Food and Drinking Water Testing

Nicole Meier^a, Bernd Klaubert^a

^a Central Institute of the Bundeswehr Medical Service Munich

Abstract

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is currently one of the most severe conflicts in Europe, with far-reaching consequences for nature and the environment. Troop movements, extensive artillery use, infrastructure destruction, and abandoned military equipment all contribute to the release of significant amounts of environmental contaminants. Additionally, the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil are impaired with considerable consequences for agriculture and food quality. There is also the risk of radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants. Adverse effects (contamination) and their health impacts can be identified through the food chemical A/C protection. For this purpose, highly mobile analytical capabilities are available with the food and eco-chemical field laboratory. This review aims to identify and summarize the current literature on the release of environmental contaminants through military activities during the Russia-Ukraine War. Based on current data on water contamination levels and pollutant inputs from Ukrainian food, specific questions can be derived to expand the performance spectrum of the mobile food and eco-chemical laboratory container. The focus here is on potential challenges in national/alliance defense or comprehensive national defense. The literature review indicates that the Russia-Ukraine War has a significant impact on food and water quality, for example, through attacks on water resources and infrastructure. Water contamination with explosives, heavy metals, and radionuclides poses a real threat. Mobile field laboratories enable rapid assessment of any toxicological effects. Answering whether consumption is safe thus makes an essential contribution to preventive health protection.

Keywords: Food and water safety, food chemical A/C protection, preventive health protection, mobile analytics, Literature review

Introduction and Background

In light of insights from the war in Ukraine, it must be assumed that chemical and radiological threats significantly jeopardize food and drinking water safety. Among the most endangered areas are drinking water and the associated water infrastructure. The literature reports on both the role of water as a driving force in conflicts and the impacts of armed conflicts on water and water systems. The open-source database “Water Conflict Chronology” by the Pacific Institute currently includes over 1600 entries in three categories (Figure 1):

(1) Water as a “trigger” (control over access to water),

(2) Water as a “weapon” (water is used as a weapon),

(3) Water as a “casualty” (direct attack on water systems).

Since the start of the Ukraine-Russia War, 64 entries have already been recorded in the categories of water as a “weapon” (10 times) and as a “casualty”(54 times) (see Figure 1) [9]. Additionally, water resources are often threatened by so-called collateral damage, such as pollution from military operations. In the first three months of the war alone, reports were registered of damage to dams, flooded mines, mined areas, interruptions to water supply, water transport, wastewater treatment, surface water pollution, bacterial contamination, and the risk of radioactive contamination [13]. Impairment or contamination of drinking water and food, as well as the resulting health consequences for soldiers, can have significant impacts. Through food chemical A/C protection, such risks can be identified and assessed. For this purpose, highly mobile analytical capabilities are available with the food and eco-chemical field laboratory. The objective of this review was to identify and summarize current literature on the release of environmental contaminants due to military activities in the Russia-Ukraine War.

Method

In April 2024, a comprehensive search was conducted in relevant scientific databases for this literature review to identify and summarize existing data and publications on environmental contamination in the context of the Russia-Ukraine War. The databases used included PubMed and Google Scholar to ensure broad coverage of the relevant literature. Both original publications and review articles were considered. Additionally, publicly accessible data from Ukraine was incorporated into the discussion. Through the analysis of current literature and data from Ukraine, specific questions can be derived to expand the performance spectrum of the food and eco-chemical laboratory container. The focus is on potential challenges in national/alliance defense or comprehensive national defense.

Results

Overview of Risks Leading to Water Pollution

The impairment of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil due to military activities leads to significant consequences for agriculture and the quality of cultivated food. Physical/chemical contamination of water and food can be attributed to the following causes:

• Large-scale fires
• Destruction of critical infrastructure (e.g., energy and fuel supply, water supply and wastewater treatment facilities, waste disposal systems)
• Damage to the chemical industry and nuclear power plants (release of „toxic industrial chemicals“ [TIC] or radioactive radiation)
• Remnants of bombs, rockets, and ammunition debris, or abandoned/sunken military vehicles and equipment
• Flooding of mines and tailings storage facilities (TSF)
• Contamination with chemical warfare agents or sabotage toxins (e.g., via „unmanned armed vehicles“ [UAV])

Overall, military actions can lead to unintentional contamination and associated health hazards. This differs from deliberate contamination of water and food with chemical warfare agents (CWA) or suitable sabotage toxins.

Fig. 1: Water-related events during the Ukraine-Russia War by year and type. (Data from <https://www.worldwater.org> [9])

Decommissioned Mines and TSF

A particular example of the endangerment of Ukraine‘s water resources is decommissioned mines and tailings storage facilities (TSF), which are facilities for storing liquid waste from various industries (465 TSF in 2019 [8]). In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions alone, there are 200 TSF storing 939 million tons of industrial waste [1][8]. A pump failure or intentional destruction of the TSF systems can lead to mine flooding, resulting in the release of toxic mine water. The toxins can seep into the groundwater, affecting entire areas [11]. A particular danger exists if the Oleksandr-Zakhid mine in Horlivka, where chlorobenzene and other carcinogenic toxins have been stored since 1989, or the Yunyi-Komunar mine, where the Soviet Union detonated a 0.3-kiloton nuclear bomb in 1979, are flooded [4][6].

Pesticides

Another serious problem for Ukrainian waters is small illegal landfills with expired pesticides in the soil from the Soviet era (“pesticide burials”). Ukraine is currently one of the world‘s largest consumers of pesticides (approximately 100,000 tons per year). In 2020, an estimated 8,230 tons of expired pesticides were stored in 650 depots nationwide. Explosions caused by bombing and the intentional flooding of agricultural land through dam explosions contribute to the release of stored pesticides into the groundwater [6].

Nuclear Power Plants (NPP)

During the Ukraine-Russia War, combat actions and artillery attacks have already occurred in areas surrounding the Chernobyl (NPP Chernobyl) and Enerhodar (NPP Zaporizhzhia) nuclear power plants. Both NPPs are located near rivers and large water reservoirs. Such a location carries the risk of radionuclide emissions into the environment and their rapid transmission to surrounding ecosystems [6].

Summary of Water Monitoring Data

Despite military activities, the state agency for water resources conducts monitoring of surface waters used for drinking and household purposes at designated monitoring points, where the military situation permits. Elevated concentrations of heavy metals mercury, copper, tin, manganese, and lithium were detected. Up to an 8.5-fold exceedance of mineral oil and mercury content was also detected at locations where they were not previously detected before the invasion [1]. In the Uda River, for example, a 20- to 58-fold increase in the insecticide cypermethrin and a 1.5- to 1.7-fold increase in levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured. At the surface drinking water intake points in Kharkiv, the phosphate content increased 2.4 times, and the nitrite content increased 4 times. Due to inefficient operation of wastewater treatment plants following hostilities in the region (damage, power outages, etc.), at the surface drinking water intake points in Donetsk, ammonium levels increased 2.4-fold and nitrite levels increased 2.8-fold.

Additionally, limits for pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals were exceeded [16]. After rocket debris damaged fertilizer tanks, ammonia and nitrate concentrations were found in river water samples east of Lviv that were 163 and 50 times above standard limits, respectively [11]. As another example, data from Strokal et al. (2023) show that, due to damaged sewer lines and wastewater treatment plants, the inputs of painkillers, antibacterial agents, and microplastics into the Dnipro River increased by 2 to 34% in 2022 [15]. Due to the military situation, state monitoring, however, does not have continuous access to all relevant sampling sites. This creates the need to close the gap with military field laboratories, including associated (highly) mobile sampling teams.

Fig. 2: The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and its associated dam on the Dnipro River were destroyed by an explosion early on June 6, 2023. Downstream, four cities and several dozen villages were largely flooded, resulting in numerous fatalities, and industrial and urban infrastructure was destroyed or damaged. Bacterial and chemical pollution, including mineral oil residues, heavy metals, and polychlorinated biphenyls, was detected in both the downstream area and the northwestern part of the Black Sea. The water supply to extensive agricultural areas, several large cities, and towns, as well as essential energy facilities, including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, was interrupted [17]. Satellite images of the lower Dnipro River, taken by the Landsat-9 satellite on (a) June 1, 2023, and (b) June 9, 2023. (Source: https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/)

Health-Relevant Parameters for the Food and Eco-Chemical Laboratory Container

Numerous reports exist on the contamination of water with various chemical compounds. The following list provides an overview of the relevant physical and chemical parameters. References/sources are given in square brackets.

• Ammonium [3][4][7][11][13][15]
• Pharmaceuticals (e.g., Diclofenac) [15]
• Chemical Warfare Agents (CWA) [4][14]
• Chlorobenzothiophen [10]
• Dioxins [7][10]
• Volatile organic compounds (e.g., chloroform) [7]
• Macro-/Microplastics [15]
• Mycotoxins [5]
• Nitrate [3][7][11][15]
• Nitrite [4][7][13][15]
• Oil/fuel residues [1][7][11][13][14][17]
• Perchlorate [10][11]
• Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS)
• Pesticides (e.g., Triclosan) [6][7][13][15]
• Phosphate [15]
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) [4][7][10][13]
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) [10][17]
• (Poly)chlorinated naphthalenes [10]
• Radioactive compounds [1][3][6][10][14]
• Heavy metals [1–5][7][10][11][13][14][17]
• Explosives (nitroaromatics, e.g., TNT) [1][3][4][6][10][11][14]
• Sulfate [7][13]
• Toxic industry chemicals (TIC) [6][7][11]

Relevance of the Food and Eco-Chemical Laboratory Container

The current literature indicates that the Russia-Ukraine War has a significant impact on food and water quality, for example, through targeted attacks on water resources and infrastructure, or unintentional contamination resulting from military activities. The benefit of the food and eco-chemical laboratory container lies in the rapid assessment of potential acute toxicological effects from consuming water and food. The highly mobile sampling teams can also operate armed and close the gaps in civilian official surveillance. Due to high mobility and rapid deployability, statements about edibility or potential health hazards can be made directly on site. For the food and eco-chemical laboratory container, parameters not typically covered by civilian surveillance, such as explosive residues or CWA, are of particular interest. Based on the obtained information, the performance spectrum should be adapted to include the determination of TIC or pesticide residues. Additionally, data from satellite images („remote sensing data“) [12][14] or open-source tools can be utilized (Figure 3) to identify potential hazards and derive parameters for analysis.

Conclusion

The review offers insights into the contamination situation of water, food, and the environment in Ukraine, as well as its health impacts on daily life. Furthermore, the summary forms a basis for further developing the performance spectrum of the (highly) mobile food and eco-chemical laboratory container for future deployments within the framework of a national and alliance defense scenario or comprehensive national defense. The highly mobile field laboratories thus make an essential contribution to the preventive health protection of soldiers and ensure a health-safe supply for the troops.

References

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Manuscript Data

Citation

Meier N, Klaubert B: Food and Water Defense – Insights from the Russia-Ukraine War for (Highly) Mobile Food and Drinking Water Testing. WMM 2025; 69(10-11E): 7.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.48701/opus4-763

For the Authors

Captain (MC Pharm) Dr. Nicole Meier

Central Institute of the Bundeswehr Medical Service Munich

Ingolstädter Landstraße 102, D-85748 Garching

E-Mail: nicole1meier@bundeswehr.org