The aim of work was to determine the priority objects of observation and criterion indicators of their pollution as a result of military actions.

Research materials and methods: bibliographic, bibliosemantic, hygienic, analytical. Scientific sources containing materials of international experience in studying the impact of military operations on the environment and living conditions of the population are included in the analysis.

Results. Based on the generalization of literature data and our own research carried out in the prewar period, the possible consequences of environmental pollution as a result of military operations are analyzed and their main dangers are identified.
It is shown that the soil is the main object where the harmful factors of hostilities accumulate. In places of warfare, fuel, oil products, chemical residues, fragments of explosives (mines, shells, missiles) are impregnated into the soil, the chemical elements of which pose a threat not only now, but also determine the danger in the future. In particular, it has been shown that heavy metals and their oxidation products, combustion products and numerous fires cause stable environmental pollution with such stable compounds as heavy metals (lead, cobalt, cadmium, molybdenum, nickel, zinc, manganese, etc.), as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are all stable in the environment, in particular in soils, where they accumulate and circulate through the chains of «air - soil - water - plants - animals – humans», and thus will affect the health of the population for many years to come. secondary pollution of atmospheric air and food products, especially of plant origin, grown in contaminated areas.

Conclusion: the environmental pollution was analyzed in the places where military equipment, heavy vehicles, fuel, shells, oil products, etc. are stored. The possibility of acute and chronic exposure, which creates conditions for the accumulation of pollutants in the places of human life, is shown. The priority objects of environmental control, their criteria indicators and the frequency of their measurements to prevent a negative impact on public health in extreme conditions are determined.

military actions, explosives, fuel, fires, air pollution, soil, water, danger

1. Turns A. BBC - Homepage [Internet]. The toxic legacy of the Ukraine war; 2023 Feb 21 [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230221-the-toxic-legacy-of-the-ukraine-war

2. Khazali M., Taghavi L. An overview of Persian Gulf environmental pollutions. E3S Web of Conferences [Internet]. 2021 ; 325 : 03013 [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202132503013

3. Sytar O., Taran N. Effect of heavy metals on soil and crop pollution in Ukraine – a review. Journal of Central European Agriculture. 2022 ; 23 (4) : 881-7 [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5513/jcea01/23.4.3603

4. Harada K.H., Soleman S.R., Ang J.S., Trzcinski A.P. Conflict-related environmental damages on health: lessons learned from the past wars and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. 2022 ; 27 : 35 [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1265/ehpm.22-00122

5. Prodanchuk M., Balan G., Bobylova O. [Potentional risk for the environment and human health of 1,1-dymethylhydrazine (heptyl) as one of the main problems of the Ukrainian’s environmental safety under the condition of the military, diversion and terroristic hazards]. Suchasni problemy toksykolohii, kharchovoi ta khimichnoi bezpeky. 2015 ; 3 (71) : 25-33.

6. The Environmental Impact of the Conflict in Ukraine. United Nations Environment Programme. Nairobi, Kenya; 2022: 56 p. EO/2466/NA

7. Lawrence M.J., Stemberger H.L., Zolderdo A.J., Struthers D.P., Cooke S.J. The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment. Environmental Reviews. 2015 Dec ; 23 (4) : 443-60 [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2015-0039

8. Lima D.R., Bezerra M.L., Neves E.B., Moreira F.R. Impact of ammunition and military explosives on human health and the environment. Reviews on Environmental Health. 2011 Jan 1 ; 26 (2) [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh.2011.014

9. Manduca P., Al Baraquni N., Al Baraquni L., Abu Abadi D., Abdallah H., Hamad G.A. et al. Hospital centered surveillance of births in Gaza, Palestine, 2011-2017 and heavy metal contamination of the mothers reveals long-term impact of wars. Reproductive Toxicology. 2019 Jun ; 86 : 23-32 [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2019.02.003

10. Chernychenko I., Babii V., Sovertkova L., Lytvychenko O., Balenko N., Kondratenko O. et al. Vyznachennia nebezpeky zabrudnennia navkolyshnoho seredovyshcha benz(a)pirenom v ekstremalnykh umovakh pid chas pozhezhi. In: Hihiiena naselenykh mists [Hygiene of populated places]. 2018 ; (68) : 92-6. https://doi.org/10.32402/hygiene2018.68.092

11. Ekodiia [Internet]. Vodni resursy i viiskovi dii; [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://ecoaction.org.ua/voda-iak-dzherelo-zhyttia.html

12. Ministerstvo zakhystu dovkillia ta pryrodnykh resursiv Ukrainy – ofitsiinyi sait [Internet]; [cited 2023 Jul 17]. Available from: https://mepr.gov.ua/

13. Pro zatverdzhennia Derzhavnykh sanitarnykh norm i pravyl «Pokaznyky bezpechnosti ta okremi pokaznyky yakosti pytnoi vody v umovakh voiennoho stanu ta nadzvychainykh sytuatsiiakh inshoho kharakteru», Nakaz Ministerstva okhorony zdorovia Ukrainy No. 683 [Internet], 2022 Apr 22 [cited 2023 Jul 17] (Ukraina). Available from: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z0564-22#Text