Kryvyi Rig (Ukraine) (AFP) – When Viktor Sevidov looked up to the sky above Ukraine's war-scarred landscape, he was not watching out for incoming missiles or drones. Instead, he was looking for birds.
"There's a jay ... That's a bluethroat ... Do you see the hen harrier? We're lucky," the 37-year-old photographer told AFP.Threatened in peacetime by deforestation, intensive agriculture, urbanisation, pollution, hunting and climate change, Russia's 2022 invasion has wrought yet more suffering on Ukraine's birdlife.The constant aerial bombardments have devastated wildlife and wrecked a delicate ecosystem across a 1,200-kilometre (750-mile) frontline -- including birds' nesting grounds and migratory routes. Every dawn or dusk, Sevidov leaves his grey apartment block on the outskirts of Kryvyi Rig, an industrial city in central Ukraine, to see what birds he can spot."I see shaheds every day ... I want to see a clear sky," he said, referring to the Iranian-style attack drones that Russia fires hundreds of every day at Ukraine.
Constant aerial bombardments have devastated wildlife © Genya SAVILOV / AFP
Amid a global biodiversity crisis, birds -- which play a vital role in pollination, seed dispersal and controlling insect populations -- are one of the fastest declining groups.Before Russia invaded, Sevidov photographed wildlife in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Partly occupied by Russia and under constant bombardment, his previous spots are either "destroyed" or "unreachable".One day in 2024, he saw a Russian missile shot down above him while he was taking photos near Odesa."For me, it's disgusting ... I don't want to see that. I love nature. I love life. Not things that bring death."'Fatal'Contrary to what some may think, birds cannot always easily flee the dangers of war, zoologist Ewa Wegrzyn, from the Polish University of Rzeszow, said.Many species of birds are philopatric, meaning they either stay in the area they were born or regularly return to the same place to mate."Unfortunately, during war, philopatry can be fatal, as it leads birds along migration routes over areas affected by fighting," Wegrzyn said.
