Introducing “Agriecocide”: Framing War-Related Agricultural Destruction in Ukraine

This paper introduces the concept of agriecocide, a term that highlights environmental damage at the intersection of agricultural losses and food security. To do this, the study adopts a multidisciplinary approach combining bibliometric analysis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a critical case study, and normative legal methods. Bibliometric analysis mapped research on war-related agricultural and environmental damage, while the case study examined empirical evidence of Ukraine’s agricultural and ecological losses. The consequences of agriecocide were defined as direct and indirect harms, encompassing material, ecological, scientific, social, territorial, logistical and long-term socio-environmental dimensions. The article compares international legal frameworks addressing agricultural destruction in terms of the protected interests and material elements they address and identifies structural limitations in existing doctrines. It demonstrates that agricultural harm is regulated only indirectly and fragmentarily, without recognising agricultural systems as integrated socio-ecological infrastructures. On this basis, this paper proposes to define agriecocide as a distinct legal category to address this gap. In addition, legal analysis identifies shortcomings in national regulatory frameworks, while normative legal drafting proposes concrete legislative amendments to strengthen Ukraine’s legal response to the large-scale agricultural damage. These include: (i) reforms to land legislation to support soil restoration, demining, and bioremediation; (ii) financial mechanisms to provide state support, preferential regimes, and insurance for agricultural producers; (iii) and amendments to criminalisation of agriecocide by introducing Article 441-1 (“Agriecocide”) into the Criminal Code of Ukraine, complementing the existing provision on ecocide. The paper aims to initiate scholarly and legal debate on agriecocide, emphasising its role in strengthening preventive legal mechanisms and in holding accountable those responsible for large-scale agricultural and environmental harm.