Donetsk, Aug 17 — DAN. Ammonia leak, caused by a Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk, has endangered the flora and fauna of the entire region, the director of a laboratory for bioinvasion and plants protection of the Donetsk Botanical Garden, PhD in Biology Vladimir Martynov told DAN.
Ukrainian army delivered a strike on the Donetsk beer brewery on August 11, causing a leak of ammonia. The Ministry of Emergencies reported a dangerous concentration of the chemical in the air early on August 12.
The Botanical Garden has also been affected, as a mass fish and crustaceans death was reported in the garden’s ponds.
“Artificial water systems require dozens of years to stabilize, we’ll need enormous effort to bring it back to the original state,” Martynov said.
He said that a number of other species are now in danger, such as ducks, grey herons, black-crowned night herons, minks.
The most urgent tasks are to clear the water bodies of dead fish and organisms, to refill them with new inhabitants, and to monitor the dynamics.
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