The Center for National Resistance (CNS) of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces has documented widespread toxic contamination of the Luhan River in temporarily occupied Luhansk, where thick chemical sheen, suspended particles, and discolored water near the Textile Factory bridge reveal systematic industrial dumping that occupation authorities deliberately ignore.
The pollution exposes how Russian occupation administrations sacrifice environmental protection to maintain political loyalty from local enterprises. Since 2014, ecology has been absent from occupation priorities in areas Russia controls, and environmental damage control during disasters is often nonexistent, according to prior Euromaidan Press reporting. Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts were home to some 4,500 environmentally hazardous enterprises before the war, and hundreds of operational disruptions have gone unreported since occupation began.
What intelligence analysts found
According to CNS, the contamination near the Textile Factory bridge shows clear signs of ongoing industrial discharge rather than a one-time accident.
The pattern of the chemical sheen spreading across the water indicates a continuous pollutant entering the river, CNS analysts noted. They assess the waste as petrochemical or mixed industrial effluent, which poses serious risks to aquatic ecosystems, birds, soil quality, and public health. Such discharges create long-term toxic burdens, and some damage may prove irreversible.
The discharges occur regularly, CNS sources report, often immediately after staged "clean-ups" performed for show before inspections.
Why Russian occupation ignores industrial pollution
The occupation administration has deliberately ignored systematic violations for years, according to CNS. Regulatory bodies have effectively ceased to function as institutions. No inspections, no investigations, no response to complaints -- complete silence.
Old Soviet-era factories operate without modernization or wastewater treatment systems. Occupation authorities refuse to touch enterprises that remain politically loyal, even as rivers transform into open collectors for uncontrolled industrial waste.
The environmental collapse under Russian occupation follows a pattern documented across the Donbas. Unchecked industrial waste has been accumulating in regional riverbeds for years, creating large-scale health hazards.
Russia's environmental crimes in occupied Ukraine
Russia has committed over 2,500 environmental crimes since launching its full-scale invasion, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Reintegration. Ukrainian prosecutors have recorded more than 265 war crimes against the environment and 14 cases of ecocide, with environmental damage from the invasion exceeding $55 billion.
For Luhansk residents, the chemical-covered river flowing past their city represents a daily reminder: under Russian occupation, nature and people alike remain without protection.