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Coordinated and published by The Grassroots Institute, the Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources (GJNR) is an international journal dedicated to the latest advancements in natural resources throughout the world. The goal of this journal is to provide a platform for scientists, social scientists, policy analysts, managers and practitioners (on all academic and professional levels) all over the world to promote, discuss and share various new issues and developments in different arenas of natural resources.
Volodymyr Yusupov1, Hubenko Ivan2, Nataliia Kisil*3, Kateryna Yusupova4, Olena Cherniavska5
1National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv, Ukraine. Email: yusupov.v@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5216-4144
2National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv, Ukraine. Email: ivanhubenko@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8137-4638
3National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Email: kisil_n@ukr.net ǀ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1097-360X
4National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv, Ukraine. Email: yusupovakaterina@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8508-3516
5Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Email: olena.pr@ukr.net ǀ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4619-5399
*Corresponding author
Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 8(2): 127-149. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.080207
Received: 03 May 2025
Reviewed: 22 July 2025
Provisionally Accepted: 28 July 2025
Revised: 28 July 2025
Finally Accepted: 07 August 2025
Published: 23 August 2025
This article explores the types of forensic expertise used for assessing environmental damage, particularly to plant life, and in the context of armed conflicts. This study considers documented ecological damages from the Russian-Ukrainian war and Ukraine’s practical experience following the combat activities of the Russian Federation in assessing damage to plant life. The research was based on forensic doctrines related to crime trace collection, aimed at better understanding the current mechanisms used for documenting environmental damage caused by armed conflicts, as well as exploring general forensic theory, which analyses types of forensic processes used to determine environmental damage resulting from warfare. The study analysed statistical data provided by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office concerning environmental war crimes from 2022 to 2024, quantitative indicators of environmental damages from governmental audit reports, and included a mathematical calculation of ecological damages caused by a specific event in September 2024 - following the debris fall of a shot-down Kh-59/69 missile in Kyiv region (Ukraine). Findings from the forensic assessment of environmental harm derived from armed conflicts are accepted by international courts as evidence of war-related environmental crimes. The mathematical calculation proposed in this article for determining the magnitude of environmental damage can be employed by specialists developing methodologies for conducting relevant forensic expertise. The study empirically substantiates the potential of forensic methods for quantifying environmental damage caused to ecosystems and plant life as a result of military operations.
Forensic expertise; Special knowledge; War crimes investigation; Ecological damage; Plant varieties; Assessment of damage to plant life
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Yusupov, V., Ivan, H., Kisil, N., Yusupova, K. and Cherniavska, O. (2025). Forensic Expertise in Determining Damage to Plant Life Caused During Armed Conflicts: Legal Brief on the Case of the Russian-Ukrainian War. Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 8(2): 127-149. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.080207
Yusupov, V., Ivan, H., Kisil, N., Yusupova, K., & Cherniavska, O. (2025). Forensic Expertise in Determining Damage to Plant Life Caused During Armed Conflicts: Legal Brief on the Case of the Russian-Ukrainian War. Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 8(2), 127-149. https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.080207
Yusupov V., Ivan H., Kisil N., Yusupova K., Cherniavska O. Forensic Expertise in Determining Damage to Plant Life Caused During Armed Conflicts: Legal Brief on the Case of the Russian-Ukrainian War. Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 2025, 8 (2), 127-149. https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.080207
Yusupov, Volodymyr, Ivan, Hubenko, Kisil, Nataliia, Yusupova, Kateryna, Cherniavska, Olena. 2025. “Forensic Expertise in Determining Damage to Plant Life Caused During Armed Conflicts: Legal Brief on the Case of the Russian-Ukrainian War”. Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 8 no. 2: 127-149. https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.080207
Yusupov, Volodymyr, Hubenko Ivan, Nataliia Kisil, Kateryna Yusupova and Olena Cherniavska. 2025. “Forensic Expertise in Determining Damage to Plant Life Caused During Armed Conflicts: Legal Brief on the Case of the Russian-Ukrainian War”. Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 8 (2): 127-149. https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.080207
| Internet Archive: | https://archive.org/details/m-00556_202602 |
| WorldCat: | https://search.worldcat.org/title/10963182595 |
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