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World19 Jul 2026

How modern warfare is reshaping Ukraine’s natural environment

From Chornobyl's endangered wild horses to bird nests made of drone cables, modern warfare is reshaping fragile ecosystems along Ukraine’s front lines.

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From Chornobyl's endangered wild horses to bird nests made of drone cables, modern warfare is reshaping fragile ecosystems along Ukraine’s front lines. But Oleksiy Vasyliuk is not a soldier — he’s a scientist. Vasyliuk and his team conduct their research on an active minefield, facing continuous shelling and aerial drone threats. “Very few biologists are prepared to go into these conditions,” Vasyliuk told CBC, speaking from the shelter where local residents have lent scientists the space for the purpose of a makeshift research lab. “But we feel a responsibility that someone has to study all this.” While data is dangerous to come by, biologists have no doubt that Russia’s full-scale invasion is severely impacting Ukraine’s ecosystems, threatening native species with extinction. And in battle zones, soldiers are finding bird nests made with the silvery threads of fibre-optic lines used by Ukrainian and Russian troops to guide aerial attack drones. Mykhailo Mlechko, an operator-gunner of the Ukrainian army’s Hart Brigade, found one of these nests 10 kilometers from the front line in the Kharkiv region of east Ukraine. These birds’ nests are just one example of how modern warfare is reshaping Ukraine’s natural environment. But Vasyliuk, chair of the bo ard of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, urges people not to romanticize them — fibre-optic cables and anti-drone netting pose an existential threat to bird populations.

ประโยคและวลีที่ใช้ได้จริงจากเรื่องนี้

Useful phrases from this story

endangered wild horses to birdCollocation

ม้าป่าอันตรายไปยังนก.

From the storyFrom Chornobyl's endangered wild horses to bird nests made of drone cables, modern warfare is reshaping fragile ecosystems along Ukraine’s front lines.

is reshaping fragile ecosystems alongCollocation

เปลี่ยนแปลงระบบนิเวศที่อ่อนแอ.

From the storyFrom Chornobyl's endangered wild horses to bird nests made of drone cables, modern warfare is reshaping fragile ecosystems along Ukraine’s front lines.

is not a soldierCollocation

ไม่เป็นทหาร.

From the storyBut Oleksiy Vasyliuk is not a soldier — he’s a scientist.

facing continuous shelling and aerialCollocation

ท่ามกลางระเบิดต่อเนื่องและอากาศ.

From the storyVasyliuk and his team conduct their research on an active minefield, facing continuous shelling and aerial drone threats. “Very few biologists are prepared to go into these conditions,” Vasyliuk told CBC, speaking from the shelter where local residents have lent scientists the space for the purpose of a makeshift research lab. “But we feel a responsibility that someone has to study all this.” While data is dangerous to come by, biologists have no doubt that Russia’s full-scale invasion is severely impacting Ukraine’s ecosystems, threatening native species with extinction.

are prepared to go intoCollocation

พร้อมที่จะเข้าไปใน.

From the storyVasyliuk and his team conduct their research on an active minefield, facing continuous shelling and aerial drone threats. “Very few biologists are prepared to go into these conditions,” Vasyliuk told CBC, speaking from the shelter where local residents have lent scientists the space for the purpose of a makeshift research lab. “But we feel a responsibility that someone has to study all this.” While data is dangerous to come by, biologists have no doubt that Russia’s full-scale invasion is severely impacting Ukraine’s ecosystems, threatening native species with extinction.

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