He mentioned 30,000 birds have died since December 2024 following an oil spill attributable to two Russian tankers within the Black Sea’s Kerch Strait.
Rusev additionally blamed Russian drones for spooking flamingos, forcing them to desert their nests and giving gulls the chance to decimate final 12 months’s colony.
“Drones, they keep (for) one or two minutes however throughout this era, very aggressive gulls, like yellow-legged gulls, come to this colony and destroy all of the nests,” he mentioned. “400 nests had been destroyed absolutely by these gulls.”
Rusev added that whereas drones and missiles pose a menace from the air, mines and sonar are harming sea life.
The scientist mentioned it’s annoying to work when there may be ongoing bombing.
“We noticed so many dolphins, lifeless dolphins on the shoreline,” mentioned Rusev, including that dolphin carcasses have change into an more and more widespread sight alongside the Black Coastline.
Researchers estimate that a minimum of 80,000 dolphins within the Black Sea have died as a direct results of the warfare.
The demise of such marine life is only one instance of what park researchers name environmental warfare crimes dedicated by Moscow.
