The current state, problems and prospects of the use of land resources of Ukraine in conditions of war

The pre-war state of land resources in most of Ukraine was characterized as strained, and sometimes critical, with a tendency to deteriorate, which significantly complicated the socio-economic development of Ukraine and its regions and negatively affected the landscape and biological diversity, health and living conditions of the population. The article examines topical issues of problems and prospects for the use of land resources of Ukraine in the conditions of martial law and post-war reconstruction. As a result of Russia’s military aggression, Ukraine faced mass shelling, missile strikes, radiation contamination, air pollution, littering of territories, unburied or chaotically buried bodies of the dead, mining and other challenges. This has led to aggravation of economic, environmental and social challenges of food supply both in Ukraine and in the world. In connection with military actions, the land resources of Ukraine are subjected to large-scale destruction, deterioration of the soil quality, degradation processes are intensified, land resources are damaged, owners and land users suffer material losses. Agricultural lands suffered two significant types of damage – mine contamination, both on the frontline and in occupied (or formerly occupied) territories, and direct physical damage, from contamination by mines and unexploded ordnance. As of March 20, 2022, the area of damaged soil cover was 6,582.0 hectares, out of 1,655,845.3 hectares of surveyed arable land. For rational use and protection of land, restoration of soils and improvement of their fertility, preservation of productive, ecological and social functions of soil cover, the following important measures should be implemented: actualization of scientific research on the restoration of degraded soils, in particular in the direction of studying the impact of armed aggression of the Russian Federation on the soil cover of Ukraine; determination of the current state of soil health; improvement of the methodology for determining the amount of damage and losses to land and soil resources caused by armed aggression; development and pilot implementation of rehabilitation technologies for war-damaged soils.