皇家华人

Russia鈥檚 destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on 6 June 2023 has changed the landscape of southern Ukraine, brought unprecedented environmental damage to the Black Sea region, and will have lasting global repercussions. The consequences of Russia鈥檚 act of ecocide include destruction of ecosystems in the Kakhovka reservoir, the water bodies that flow into it, and areas downstream of the Dnipro River, water pollution, displacement of mines, and impediment of irrigation in southern Ukraine which compromises global food security. The international reaction to this crime was incommensurate with the enormity of the destruction. Our panel of environmental experts and activists will provide an urgent response to the rapidly developing situation and discuss Russia鈥檚 criminal man-made catastrophe.

The event is organised by the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies SSEESing seminar series in partnership with the

Donations to the Ukrainian NGO 鈥榁ostok SOS鈥� running humanitarian relief in the Kherson region can be made at:

Speakers:

Anna Ackermann is a board member of Ukraine鈥檚 largest environmental NGO Centre for Environmental Initiatives 鈥淓coaction鈥� and a policy analyst at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Since the beginning of russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion she has been focusing on the topic of Ukraine鈥檚 sustainable reconstruction, supporting efforts of civil society from around Europe in rebuilding a green Ukraine. Before this for she was engaged in advancing key reforms in Ukraine鈥檚 energy sector and more ambitious climate policies in the country.

Olia Hercules聽is an author, chef and activist who writes cookbooks and teaches for a living. She is a native of the Kherson region. She has written four books, her first one, Mamushka, won the prestigious Fortnum and Mason Award for best debut cookbook. She also wrote Kaukasis, Summer Kitchens and Home Food. Olia is co-founder of #CookforUkraine, a global initiative to raise funds for those affected by the war in Ukraine which raised over 拢2 million. Olia鈥檚 awards include Observer Rising Star in Food 2015, 50 Best (Champions of Change), the OFM Special Award for #CookforUkraine, and she was also included in Vogue UK鈥檚 list of top most influential women in 2022.

Darya Tsymbalyuk, PhD, is a scholar of environmental humanities in relation to Ukraine. She was a Max Hayward Visiting Fellow at St Antony鈥檚 College, University of Oxford (2022鈥�23) and is now writing a book about the environmental impact of Russia鈥檚 war on Ukraine (to be published by Polity).聽Her articles and essays appeared/forthcoming in聽,听, Antennae: Journal of Nature in Visual Culture,听,听,听, JIRD, The Funambulist Magazine, to name a few.聽Her most recent opinion piece on Kakhovka can be read in聽.听听

Jonathon Turnbull聽is a cultural and environmental geographer at the University of Oxford. His PhD research examines how understandings of nature are produced and contested in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine. Alongside his academic work, he is co-producing a film about the dogs of Chornobyl and those that care for them.

Moderator:

Sasha Dovzhyk聽is a writer, literary scholar and curator from Zaporizhzhia. She is a Lecturer in Ukrainian Studies at 皇家华人 SSEES and Special Projects Curator for the Ukrainian Institute London. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Los Angeles Review of Books, CNN Opinion, Open Democracy and others. In addition to her work on Ukraine, she has written widely on fin-de-siecle culture, and is editor of Decadent Writings of Aubrey Beardsley (2022) and Ukrainian Cassandra: New Translations of Lesia Ukrainka (2023).

I锘縨age credit: Armyinform on Wikimedia. Settlements on the left bank of Dnipro River are underwater after the Kakhovka Dam was breached on 6th June, 2023