The human and material cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is well documented. But rare species of animals and flowers that had flourished in the country’s north have also been badly hit by the invaders’ destructive use of weaponry and landmines, with fears they will take decades to recover.
Valery Alexandrovitch is dressed like a soldier, flanked by men armed with Kalashnikovs while keeping a constant eye on the news.
He is a forest ranger in Ukraine’s Drevlyansky nature reserve, helping to patrol what once was a pristine sanctuary for wildlife in northern Ukraine. With its marshes, lakes, woods and heathland, it is a place so rich in wildlife it has even been called Europe’s Amazon.
But situated just 15 miles from the border with Belarus, it is in a dangerous part of the world and Mr Alexandrovitch has every reason to be wary.
It was across this border in February that Russia sent rockets, missiles and artillery shells, followed by an invading armoured column that got all the way south to the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, before being driven back by Ukrainian defenders armed with the latest Western weapons.
The Russians invaded Ukraine on 24 February from three sides – from the north in Belarus, their own territory in the east, and Crimea which they had seized and annexed in 2014.
It is fair to assume preserving Ukraine’s rarer species of flora and fauna was probably not top of President Putin’s priorities when he sent his tanks rolling across the border.