Interspecies Relations in the Midst of the Russia–Ukraine War

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.