Mangled Lands: The Wartime Landscape of Ukraine

The current war in Ukraine is having an unprecedented impact not only on society, the economy, and political processes, but also on the natural environment and the earth's surface itself. One of the most visible manifestations of this impact is the transformation of the landscape, which is occurring at an exceptional rate and scale. Ammunition craters, destruction of soil cover by military equipment, and the construction of fortifications form a new layer of anthropogenic landscapes that radically change the appearance and functioning of territories.

The Urban Seminar will outline the main factors of war-related landscape changes and their differences from the natural processes of land surface formation. Based on the analysis of satellite imagery and open data, the speaker will show the scale and consequences of the war's impact on the relief, demonstrate quantitative estimates of the scale of these changes, including morphometric characteristics of craters, areas of soil degradation, length of fortification lines, etc. Such a study allows not only to record the current scale of changes, but also to assess their potential environmental impact. Understanding the peculiarities of militarized landscape transformations opens the way to a deeper understanding of the long-term effects of war on the natural environment and contributes to the development of scientifically sound strategies for restoring the affected lands. Thus, the analysis of wartime landscape transformations is an important component of modern science and an important step toward understanding the future of Ukraine's environment.

Urban Seminar will be held in a workshop format. Researchers are invited to discuss scholarly projects, research at various stages of development, and completed research that is being prepared for publication.

Participation in the Urban Seminar requires preliminary reading and discussion of the researcher's text. If you would like to join the Seminar, please email Maryana Mazurak (m.mazurak@lvivcenter.org), and we will send you the materials in advance.