DEMYDIV, Ukraine: When Ukraine destroyed a dam to prevent Russian forces from storming Kyiv just days into the war, Olga Lehan's home near the Irpin River was flooded. After a few weeks, the water from her tap turned brown due to pollution.

"It was not safe to drink," she said of the tap water in Demydiv, a village on a tributary of the Dnieper River about 40 kilometres (24 miles) north of Kyiv.

Environmental damage from the country's eight-month war with Russia is spreading across the country, with experts warning of long-term consequences. Toxins have been released into the air and groundwater as a result of Moscow's attacks on fuel depots, endangering biodiversity, climate stability, and public health.

Over 6 million Ukrainians have limited or no access to safe drinking water. Forests covering 280,000 hectares (nearly 692,000 acres) have been destroyed or felled. According to a nongovernmental organization, the war has caused more than $37 billion in environmental damage.

While the most severely affected areas are in the more industrial eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists has been ongoing since 2014, the damage has spread elsewhere, he said.

"In addition to combat casualties, war is hell on people's health, both physically and mentally," said Rick Steiner, a US environmental scientist who advised Lebanon's government on environmental issues stemming from the country's month-long war with Israel in 2006.

The health consequences of contaminated water and toxins released by conflict "may take years to manifest," he said.

Following the flood in Demydiv, residents reported that their tap water became cloudy, tasted strange, and left a film on pots and pans after cooking.

Moscow controlled the village until April when Russian troops withdrew after failing to take the capital.

Ukrainian authorities then began bringing in freshwater, but the deliveries were halted in October when the tanker truck broke down, forcing residents to drink dirty water once more, they claimed.

According to an ex-government official, the government took water samples but did not release the results. The Food Safety and Consumer Protection Agency in Kyiv has yet to respond to the request for results.

Already in July, the United Nations' environmental agency issued a warning about significant damage to Ukraine's water infrastructure. A soon-to-be-published paper discovered pollution at a pond after a Russian missile struck a fuel depot in Kalynivka. Other environmental groups' reports have revealed the environmental consequences of the war.

The pond, which was used for both recreation and as a fish farm, had a high concentration of fuel oil and dead fish on the surface, which was caused by oil that had seeped into the water.

According to a report, nitrogen dioxide levels have risen in areas west and southwest of Kyiv. Chronic exposure to the gas can cause skin irritation and burns, as well as respiratory illness and damage to vegetation. An aid organisation that tracks information in areas affected by the crisis, disaster, and displacement conducted the report.

Fires have damaged crops and livestock, burned thousands of hectares of forest and prevented farmers from completing their harvest. Ukraine's agriculture sector, a key part of its economy, also has been affected. The government in Kyiv is providing assistance when it can. "The fires are so massive," an expert says.

Flood victims in Demydiv and surrounding villages were given the equivalent of $540 each, according to Liliia Kalashnikova, deputy head of the nearby town of Dymer. She stated that the government would do everything possible to prevent long-term environmental effects, but she did not elaborate.

According to Doug Weir, research and policy director for the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a U.K.-based monitoring organisation, governments have an obligation to minimise environmental risks for the population, especially during war.
Some Ukrainians have already given up.

"I'm depressed because there's water all around and under my house," Demydiv resident Tatiana Samoilenko explained. "I don't expect much to change in the future."