Who is Destroying the Usmanka River in the Voronezh Region?

Global environmental problems stem from foolish actions that demonstrate a complete defect in the management system. Any unconsidered action can simply destroy unique ecosystems, ruin what has existed and formed for thousands of years! And from the visible consequences "here and now" – ecocide begins to spread further, affecting all interconnected parts of nature.

Residents of the Voronezh region contacted me and asked for help in highlighting the problem. On September 19, locals came to their beloved Usmanka River and saw its exposed bed strewn with dead fish. This happened in the area of the "Silver Island" near the Repnoye microdistrict.

In just one day, someone blocked the Usmanka riverbed with a huge earthen dam. Simply put – they filled the riverbed with soil! As it later turned out, according to the information from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Voronezh Region, this was done to allow equipment to move from one side of the riverbank to the other. In other words, just so heavy machinery could cross the river, they KILLED THE ECOSYSTEM, and this was done with the full approval of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The water level in the river sharply dropped, exposing sections with completely bare sandy bottom. Where it used to be very deep – people are now crossing the river by foot! Meanwhile, locals are publishing photos of the dead river inhabitants.

On September 21, the Ministry of Natural Resources along with the police stopped the works on the river because… following the scandal, it suddenly turned out that "the works did not correspond to the approved project." They came, stopped the work, but the DAM remained. In other words, no one attempted to solve the problem, which once again demonstrates the COMPLETE DEFECT IN THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

Already the next day, local residents gathered a huge brigade – over 100 people, took shovels, and in a few hours removed the dam, allowing the water to flow further.

What now?

The ecosystem is DEAD! Recovery will take a very long time. And now, year after year, regions experience abnormal heat, which already dries up the rivers! In the same Voronezh region, a drought is expected next year, which will prevent the recovery of river ecosystems. Moreover, climate anomalies can DESTROY local biocenoses, which simply cannot cope with the drought.

One small river! A local ecosystem. People who genuinely love their land and wish it well. People who STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION!

And the agency that should protect nature, but in reality, just destroys it! What kind of 'administrators' in the regional Ministry of Natural Resources suddenly thought of BLOCKING the water artery?

What if tomorrow surgeons start cutting healthy arteries that ensure blood flow to the human heart? Such 'doctors' would be quickly punished, deprived of their jobs, and sent to prison – not just for negligence, but for murder or causing dangerous harm to a person's health.

So why is the 'blocking' of water arteries in ecosystems left unpunished? Why are such simple ELEMENTARY THINGS not even considered as committing ecocide or at least an attempt at it?

I'm proud of the people, the local residents who did not keep quiet about the problem but stood up and took real action to protect nature!

Share this material, spread it across all social networks so that as many people as possible know what is happening.

Today, the ecosystem of a river in the Voronezh region is destroyed, tomorrow they will come to kill the rivers near your home: and this SHOULD NOT go unpunished.

© PAVEL PASHKOV