The Seim, one of the Desna's tributaries, is suffering a real ecological disaster caused by Russian activities in the Kursk region, where the river originates.
The first reports of contamination of the river began coming in from local residents a few days ago.
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Baturyn village mayor Leonid Dusya told the daily Suppirne that locals noticed an unpleasant smell coming from the river on the night of August 26. Local environmental inspector Serhiy Zhukh also told reporters that experts were taking water samples to determine the source of the contamination.
It later became clear that the water did not contain enough oxygen, and environmental inspectors suspected that the contaminated water was flowing into Baturyn from the Russian-populated town of Chotkino in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces are continuing to fight back.
Swimming and fishing were immediately banned in Baturyn.
Already on August 27, the Agency for Development of Land Reclamation, Fisheries and Food Programs of Ukraine issued an official comment:
The National Fisheries Service announced an environmental disaster on the Seim River: “The enemy continues its environmental crimes. Therefore, since August 14, Russian terrorists have dumped waste of supposedly unknown material into the Seim River, causing massive pollution of the reservoir.”
According to the agency, the contamination has spread throughout the entire Seym River basin in Sumy Oblast and even reached Chernihiv Oblast, with “black water and the smell of putrefaction, ammonia and dead fish having been recorded, especially near the city of Baturyn.”
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For this reason, the Konotope District Committee for Technical, Environmental Safety and Emergency Situations has decided to temporarily (until further special orders) ban swimming, fishing and the use of water for economic needs in the Sejm River on the territory of the Novoslovicka, Bochečkivska, Popivska villages, Bryńska, Pčivrska and Krolevecka urban regional communities.
The Kyiv Post published photos taken by a resident of Baturyn showing a polluted river in the Chernihiv region and fish dying from lack of oxygen.