Almost 40 flooded mines of free and occupied Donbass carry a threat of ecological catastrophe

Thirty-six mines of Donbass are not subject to further exploitation due to flooding. This is evidenced by the data of a study, conducted by the OSCE with the support of the governments of Austria and Canada and presented in Kyiv today, - Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"As a result of armed hostilities, coal producers were repeatedly cut off from electricity supply, what led to the shutdown of water drainage systems and complete flooding of the mines in a number of cases", - the study said.

According to the data, as of today, there is no drainage work on the uncontrolled territories - from Yenakiieve to Horlivka, in the area of Pervomaisk, partially in Donetsk, Makiivka, Shakhtarsk and Toretsk.

The Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ostap Semerak, who was at the presentation, noted that the state of environment in the Donbass territory until 2014 was "complicated", and Russia's military aggression seriously harms the environment and creates technogenic and environmental threats.

"The situation with ground and surface water pollution remains critical, especially in the case of flooded mines. And the level of drinking water pollution for this region remains high", - he said.