Wildfires completely destroy protected area at Russian-occupied Dzharylhach island

The fire has destroyed the protected zone where most of all the island’s steppe ecosystems are located, as well as the largest population of rare animals, in particular ungulates, Ukrainian national broadcaster Suspilne quoted the park’s director, Iryna Sabashenko, as saying on Aug. 10.

Some plants on the island are listed in the Green Book of Ukraine and belong to rare and endangered plants, Sabashenko added.

It takes an average form four or five to eight or 12 years to restore steppe, meadow and salt marsh areas, while Tamarix bushes can only be restored in 15-30 years, the director said.

“We’re calculating the damage, but it already amounts to billions of hryvnias,” she said.

“The fire is still ongoing, so we don’t have accurate data.”

The fire on the island was seen from the coast of the Dzharylhach Bay 10 kilometers away, while the smoke could be observed for several days, a local female resident of the Russian-occupied left bank of Kherson Oblast told Suspilne.

The most valuable steppe area on the Russian-occupied island of Dzharylhach has been on fire for five days, the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group reported on Aug. 5.

Dzharylhach, which is located opposite the port city of Skadovsk in Kherson Oblast, is the largest island of Ukraine and the Black Sea. Its entire territory and part of the adjacent water area are included in the Dzharylhach National Natural Park.

Dzharylhach has been under Russian occupation since the first days of the full-scale invasion, which began in late February 2022.