Ruslan Strilets, Ukraine's minister of environmental protection, he spoke to CBC News from the capital, Kyiv. Ukraine estimates the total environmental damage so far is more than $48 billion US. Even so, environmental damage draws less attention than the horrific human carnage of the war. So, environmental damage and conflict is a humanitarian issue. After the 1991 Gulf War, the UN Security Council set up a Compensation Commission that bound Iraq to pay reparations for damage in Kuwait, including environmental damage.
