Statement by the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine
The National Ecological Centre of Ukraine (NECU) declares that there is a real, direct, and urgent threat to the life of Ukrainian journalist, environmental activist and researcher Vladyslav Balinskyy, arising from his professional, scientific, and civic activities.
Vladyslav Balinskyy is an environmentalist and hydrobiologist at the Tuzly Lagoons National Nature Park, Head of a research stream within the international scientific project SUNDANSE (Horizon Europe) implemented by the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine, an Odesa-based investigative journalist, and Editor-in-Chief of the media outlet Zeleny Lyst (Green Leaf).
Since 2014 Vladyslav Balinskyy has been subjected to systematic persecution by the Russian Federation, which intensified sharply after 2022 due to his active involvement in documenting war crimes and acts of ecocide. Official and unofficial channels of Russian propaganda have been conducting a prolonged disinformation campaign portraying his scientific and journalistic work as “espionage,” “sabotage,” or so-called “scientific assassination.”
In 2025 the Russian Federation initiated in absentia criminal proceedings against Vladyslav Balinskyy — a typical example of lawfare, aimed not at the administration of justice but at legitimising further violence.
In October 2025 the Moscow City Prosecutor’s Office assigned Balinskyy’s case to court for an in absentia trial under the following provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:
- Article 207.3 (Part 2) — “Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” criminalising coverage of Russian war crimes in Bucha and Irpin, shelling of the Odesa coastline by Russian warships, and systematic missile and drone attacks on Odesa’s civilian infrastructure. The relevant materials were published on Facebook and on the website of the NGO Zelenyi Lyst. As an aggravating circumstance Russian authorities allege the “artificial fabrication of evidence” in the form of expert commentary and scientific reports.
Article 243.4 — «Damage to military memorials» relating to three incidents involving the dismantling of Soviet symbols from the Wings of Victory memorial in Odesa in September 2024.
On 29 January, a hearing was held in the Basmanny District Court of Moscow to consider the case against Balinskyy. The Russian Federation has declared Vladyslav Balinskyy wanted internationally.
The persecution of Vladyslav Balinskyy began in 2014 following his participation in the journalistic and analytical community known as the “May 2 Group”, which conducted an independent investigation into the events of 2 May 2014 in Odesa and challenged the Russian propaganda narrative of the so-called “Odesa Khatyn.” His scientific findings regarding the causes and development of the fire at the Odesa Trade Unions Building were included in reports by the International Advisory Panel of the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, making him a target of long-term information attacks by the Russian Federation.
After 2022 a key risk factor to Balinskyy’s life and security became his skills and efforts to clearly and publicly communicate complex environmental and scientific data, including biological research findings, Copernicus Sentinel satellite monitoring and anti-corruption investigations. This work, conducted in accordance with international scientific standards and European Union programmes, has made Russian war crimes and acts of ecocide visible to the international community and utilitive within international justice mechanisms.
In the course of his professional activities Vladyslav Balinskyy:
- as Head of a research stream within the SUNDANSE (Horizon Europe) project implements innovative methods for water resource monitoring and environmental risk modelling in the Danube Basin and the Black Sea region;
- conducts ecocide documentation and satellite monitoring, including the development of methodologies for tracing fuel oil slicks from damaged and sunken vessels of the aggressor state, and comprehensive documentation of the consequences of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant dam destruction, mass mortality of hydrobionts, and critical changes in marine ecosystems;
- carries out anti-corruption investigations in the fields of environmental governance and natural resource use, and is the author of internationally recognised cases, including “Hostages of the Moldavian GRES”.
Vladyslav Balinskyy holds the official procedural status of a witness and specialist in a number of high-profile criminal investigations conducted under the procedural supervision of the Specialised Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. These include investigations into the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP, the mass mortality of cetaceans in the Black Sea, and marine pollution caused by accidents involving Russian tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 in the Kerch Strait. His involvement makes him a critically important witness for future proceedings in the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The National Ecological Centre of Ukraine outlines the explicit public threats of physical elimination disseminated via Russian Telegram channels, where Vladyslav Balinskyy is openly referred to as the “next target.” A similar pattern of dehumanisation preceded the murder of another prominent activist Demian Hanul in Odesa in 2025. According to Ukrainian law enforcement authorities the investigation established the facts that the crime was coordinated from the territory of the Russian Federation.
Quoting one of the examples of such insinuations the published in spring of 2025 by the Telegram channel “Lokhmatyi Z Nikolaev” (affiliated with Russian propagandist Sergey Lebedev, whom the Security Service of Ukraine accuses of state treason):
“The May 2 list is shrinking. Hanul has been already held accountable, Balinskyy is the net one… Balinskyy is a full-fledged target, the same as a drone operator. There will be no mercy.”
The post has since been later deleted.
The National Ecological Centre of Ukraine emphasises that the threat to Vladyslav Balinskyy’s life is real, specific, and urgent. His persecution is not a private matter but the part of a systemic policy of the Russian Federation aimed at eliminating key witnesses to war crimes and ecocide. Protecting such individuals is not only a matter of personal security but a necessary condition for preserving evidence and ensuring international justice.
In light of the above the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine calls upon the Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General to take immediate actions to ensure the physical safety of Vladyslav Balinskyy as a key witness in cases concerning war crimes and ecocide.
NECU also appeals to the Centre for Civil Liberties, as well as the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, ZMINA Human Rights Centre, Truth Hounds, the Media Initiative for Human Rights, and other honorable human rights organisations to give this case priority attention, to document it as an example of persecution of a key ICC witness, and facilitate a legal, security, and advocacy support.
NECU further appeals to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights defenders, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Ukraine to activate available urgent response mechanisms in light of the imminent threat to the life of an environmental defender and journalist.
NECU calls upon the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take into account the heightened security risks faced by Vladyslav Balinskyy as a key witness, and urges the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to address the use of lawfare, abuse of criminal law, and threats to the safety of experts and witnesses by the Russian Federation in cases involving serious international crimes, including environmental crimes.
In addition NECU appeals to the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the European Commission, and the European Parliament to consider this case as an example of systemic persecution of an environmental human rights defender and participant in EU programmes (Horizon Europe) and to utilise available diplomatic and political instruments to ensure his protection.
The National Ecological Centre of Ukraine calls upon Ukrainian and international media to devote attention to this case as an example of the systemic persecution of environmentalists and journalists by the Russian Federation.
NECU also encourages higher education institutions, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to initiate the development of protection protocols for national experts who consistently document the damage caused by Russian war aggression and contribute to the evidence base for international justice.
Kyiv, 29 January 2026