Ukraine, Russian weapons test in Mine, and contaminated water

Posted: 24th February 2022

Abandoned mines in eastern Ukraine are filling up with water at “alarming” rates, according to new research that has triggered fears of a radioactive disaster. Satellite images show high levels of swelling in the ground in the former coal mining region of Donbas, much of which is now controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The images have raised concerns about water contaminated with heavy metals or radioactive material spilling into rivers and the wider environment. Of particular concern is the high swelling at the Yunkom mine, which was the site of a small Soviet underground nuclear test in 1979. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the intergovernmental organisation, warned in 2017 that the mine posed a “singular threat”. “Any present destabilisation of the mine via flooding could release up to 500 cubic metres of radiation-contaminated mine waters into the ground-water table,” it said.