What is known about the pollution of Desna and the Sejm and whether there is a threat to the capital

In mid-August, information began to appear about the pollution of the Seim River, which flows through Sumy Oblast and Chernihiv Oblast from the Kursk Oblast of Russia. Locals began to notice an oily film on the surface and dead fish on the shore.

Later, the pollution reached the Desna, where the Seim flows. It is from this river that a large part of Kyiv consumes water.

August 28 at the Kyiv City State Administration reassuredthat the water in the capital is safe. However, the Vodokanal began to develop a set of measures that will provide Kyiv residents with drinking water in case the situation worsens.

What is happening to Desna now and what is the possible cause of the pollution – found out “Newsroom”.

How did it all begin?

On the Seim River, problems began in mid-August – that’s when information about the plague of fish appeared. August 27 State Agency for Fisheries accused Russians in water poisoning.

Pollution reached Desna later. According to Serhiy Muravskyi, a local resident of the village of Maksaka, 60 kilometers from Chernihiv, the first dead fish appeared on the bank of the river on August 31.

“And already on Sunday (September 1 – ed.), the entire beach was covered with it. (Currently) it is a little less – either the dogs were stretched, or the current washed away. And there were many crayfish. Everything died.” – he said.

He, together with some locals and elders, is engaged in cleaning the shore. Among the collected carcasses are perch, pike, crucian carp, and crayfish.

As residents of Kukovichi told the newspaper, already on August 30, the entire coast of the village was littered with dead fish. It was even possible to find a lamprey among it.

September 5 at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources declaredthat pollution is typical for this period of the year, and no excesses of chemical or highly toxic components were recorded.

Currently, swimming and fishing are prohibited in Seim and Desna.

“We are trying to explain this to people. In particular, through the notification system that is installed in the villages: through loudspeakers, we occasionally broadcast danger announcements.” – noted Yuriy Stalnichenko, acting head of the Minsk community.

According to him, the situation in the villages is different. In some, the elders were able to organize local ones, in others – not.

As residents of the village of Kukovichi told the publication, the shore was littered with dead fish. It was even possible to find a lamprey among it.

Where is the source of pollution?

At present, no one can name the exact cause of the pollution of the Seimas and Desna.

August 26. Environmental inspection of Sumy region assumedthat the source of pollution could be a sugar or alcohol factory in Kurshchyna, damaged as a result of hostilities.

The State Inspectorate took water samples as close as possible to the war zone. However, for an accurate conclusion, it is necessary to have access to the source of pollution.

Natalya Novak, chief media relations specialist of the Sumy Region State Economic Inspection, told “Novynarna” that similar cases of pollution have occurred before – in the fall of 2019 and in the spring of 2024.

“At the end of May – the beginning of June, the water became cloudy, the amount of oxygen in it became less. We received reports about this from the village of Manukhivka, which is in the 5-kilometer border zone. Since the pollution cannot go upstream, there is only one option: deterioration water quality occurred on the territory of the Russian Federation”, – she thinks.

Dead fish on the banks of the Desna

Stas Kozlyuk/Newsroom

In her opinion, the source of pollution could be several enterprises, or the city of Kursk in general, because the Russian mass media wrote about its problems with drainage and sewage. However, the city is too far downstream.

The leather factory in Rylsk and the sugar or alcohol factories in Tyotkino are also “suspicious”.

“A decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water indicates that a lot of organic pollution got there. As a result, an oxidation process occurs, during which the pollutant absorbs oxygen from the water. The fauna that lives in the river suffocates, dies and rots. And for decay, too need oxygen. It’s like a big snowball.” – Natalya Novak explains.

She notes that in 2019, when a similar plague of fish occurred, no sources of pollution were found in Sumy Oblast. Therefore, experts assumed that it is located precisely on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The State Environmental Inspection “Novynarny” was also unable to name the source of the current pollution. However, according to preliminary data, discharges from the treatment facilities of the sugar factory in Tyotkino could have caused the pollution.

Is there a threat to water in Kyiv?

There are no drinking water intakes in Sumy Oblast and Chernihiv Oblast. However, the closest one is located in the Kyiv region.

The main water supplier for the capital is the Desnyansk water station, which provides water about 60% of Kyiv (Dnieper water – 30%, artesian water – 10%).

In KMDA claimthat the situation with water quality in the capital is under control. In case of its deterioration, the water utility will actively purify the water.

The fish are collected in bags and buried in a pit

Stas Kozlyuk/Newsroom

What is the situation now?

September 7 at the Ministry of Environment reportedthat the mass death of fish was stopped, and the movement of pollution in the direction of Kyiv slowed down.

Due to the bends of the Desna and the current, the nature of the pollution has changed. Currently, it is concentrated in the deepest part of the river in separate spots and settles to the bottom.

Also, on the Desna in Chernihiv, installations were installed to saturate the water with oxygen. Thanks to this, fewer fish began to die, and pollution settled to the bottom.

As of September 8, data The Ministry of Environment, Seimas and Desna collected about 26 tons of dead fish.

However, on September 9 it became knownthat the water in Desna near Chernigov has darkened. In some places, a mass death of fish was recorded.

On the same day, the head of the Chernihiv city military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, said that the response to the pollution of the Desna by the Chernihiv local government was untimely.

“For a week, city services only managed to install one aeration unit and place prohibiting signs on city beaches.

A working team for cleaning the banks and the river itself from dead fish has not been created. The burial place of this fish has not been determined.” – he wrote.