Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

The full-scale war against Ukraine has brought the issue of systemic environmental destruction to the forefront as a tool of modern armed conflict and has given new weight to the concept of ecocide in the context of national and international security. Large-scale damage to ecosystems, industrial facilities, water resources, energy and agricultural infrastructure demonstrates that environmental damage in wartime is not accidental, but structural in nature and causes long-term socio-economic and security consequences. The article considers ecocide as a multidimensional threat that affects environmental sustainability, public health, economic stability and regional security. The study analyzes the regulatory and institutional status of ecocide at the national and international levels. Special attention is paid to the criminalization of ecocide in Ukraine, the practices of recording and investigating environmental crimes in the context of military operations, as well as the problems of international criminal-legal qualification of large-scale environmental damage. The role of the UN system structure and international financial mechanisms in shaping the institutional response, supporting green reconstruction and restoring environmental sustainability is separately considered. The thesis is substantiated about the need to institutionalize ecocide as an element of the global safe architecture and strengthen international mechanisms of responsibility for military environmental damage.

The article discusses the use of technologies for influencing the weather by the main actors of international relations and the potential consequences of the use of these technologies on global security. The authors showed that technologies for influencing the weather are currently being actively studied and legally applied in developed countries of the world (for example, in the USA, China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates) for precipitation management. However, the use of such systems for military purposes can pose serious threats not only for countries using such technologies and their neighbors, but also on a global scale, especially since the consequences of using methods of influencing the weather are not well understood in the long term. The authors believe that one of the ways to control the use of technologies for influencing weather on global level is the creation of a special international monitoring service, which will be responsible for coordinating research and the use of weather management technologies by states.

The article shows that global climate changes are already visible in Ukraine. At the same time the climatic consequences that Ukraine will face will not be so critical for population incubation, as, for example, in Africa and East Asia. In these regions, the catastrophic decline in drinking water and fertile land will stimulate migration to new territories for survival. Climate refugees, according to the authors, will become one of the main challenges to the national and food security of Ukraine and the European region.