Article 55 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, titled Protection of the Natural Environment, reads as follows: "Care shall be taken in warfare to protect the natural environment against widespread, long-term and severe damage.The State Environment Inspectorate of Ukraine reported in December that Russia's war has polluted more than 291 million square meters of land in Ukraine and littered over 8 billion square meters in the country, causing an estimated $12 billion in damaged land resources, the Kyiv Independent reported."From the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, we record all the crimes of the occupier against the environment in order to make him [Russian President Vladimir Putin] pay in full for what he has done to the Ukrainian people," the ministry said at the time, according to an English translation.I would like to remind you that the 4th Geneva Convention prohibits the occupiers from compelling protected persons to serve in their army," the Ukrainian defense minister said on Friday."Booby traps in dead soldiers and mass graves, soft toys and children's backpacks, in schools, hospitals and apartments...This is a partial list of Russia's violations of Protocol ІІ to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in [Ukraine]," he said on Thursday."