Features of cartographic visualization of the state of landscapes during the period of hostilities

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze cartographic images showing the state of landscapes disturbed as a result of Russia’s military actions against Ukraine and presented in open messengers from February 24, 2022.

Basic material. The article emphasizes the fact that within the existing classifications of belligerent landscapes and considering the current situation in Ukraine, it is appropriate to use the term “military landscapes”, meaning landscapes that have been directly affected by military actions: bombing, shelling, mining, etc. This is the name used in English-language literature. The authors used a number of cartographic materials from open sources, according to which it is possible to determine preliminarily and indirectly the territories in need of landscape restoration. Among those used are maps of environmental crimes, forest fires, mined areas, affected objects of industrial and social infrastructure, agricultural and forestry enterprises. The article emphasizes the fact that there are currently no modern maps of belligerent (military) landscapes, neither for the territory of Ukraine nor for its regions. We hope that scientists are already developing precisely such maps within the scope of their scientific topics or grant activities, as is the case at the Faculty of Geology, Geography, Recreation and Tourism and at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Ecology of Kharkiv V.N.Karazin National University. The authors have established a sharp decrease in such maps in open sources in 2023.

Conclusions. The article emphasizes the need to develop a state program for the restoration of landscapes with the broad involvement of scientists, primarily from the territories where active hostilities took place.