Biologist Serhiy Hlotov: "Luhansk lived the life of Ukraine. We had no doubts about who we were."

11 years ago, biologist, photographer, volunteer, and public figure Sergey Glotov, who worked at the Luhansk Nature Reserve of the NAS of Ukraine, had to leave his institution and his hometown of Luhansk, already captured by pro-Russian and Russian forces, due to a threat to his life. When the Ukrainian army liberated part of the occupied territories of Luhansk region, the scientist, with the help of concerned people, managed to evacuate his insect collection. Starting over from scratch and far from home was not easy. For some time, Sergey Glotov changed his profession, but eventually returned to science: he defended his PhD dissertation in entomology and spent two consecutive winters at the Ukrainian Antarctic station "Akademik Vernadsky." Today, he is a research associate in the department of museum documentation of bioresources at the State Natural History Museum of the NAS of Ukraine in Lviv. He continues his research, popularizes science, and considers assessing the colossal damage caused by Russian armed aggression to the Ukrainian environment an extremely important part of the work of Ukrainian biologists. The scientist shared memories of the past and plans for the future in an interview for the special project "Heroes of Resistance" — a joint initiative of the online publication "Ukrainian Truth," the public organization "Robymo," and the National Resistance Center. “We were somewhat on the periphery, and it was felt. But Luhansk lived its own life, the life of Ukraine,” recalls Sergey Glotov. “Luhansk residents went out daily to pro-Ukrainian rallies, to other events supporting the European choice and European future of Ukraine. We had no doubts about who we were. <…> For me, the war began in March 2014. We all understood that Russians and pro-Russian forces were coming and destroying everything Ukrainian. <…> When [after the announcement of the ATO] Ukrainian military began to be deployed to Luhansk, we reoriented ourselves to helping them. <…> It took some time to figure out what resources we had, which people could help. We did this [volunteering] openly, not anonymously. Because we lived in our country and helped our own army.” But when separatist channels began spreading information about the scientist with a call to “Find and clean up,” he decided it was time to leave. Fortunately, the beetle collection that Sergey Glotov had been gathering since 2004, hidden in the basements of Stanytsia Luhanska, as well as collections entrusted to him by several other researchers, survived. Now all this work is stored in Lviv. “For several generations of scientists, there will be work studying the nature of Luhansk region through these collections. We find something new in them every time,” says the scientist. According to Sergey Glotov, the results of previous long-term studies will help assess the damage to our environment caused by Russian aggression: “Many territories of Ukraine’s nature reserve fund have come under occupation. In particular, the Luhansk Nature Reserve [NAS of Ukraine] is completely occupied. Monitoring studies and nature observations that had been ongoing since 1920, almost a century, have now stopped. And these were the most intact steppes in all of Eurasia. The [Biosphere] Reserve “Askania-Nova” [named after F.E. Falz-Fein] — the oldest reserve in Ukraine — is also occupied. This includes animals and infrastructure. In the floodplain of the Siverskyi Donets River, there were many natural territories: reserves, sanctuaries with pine forests. They burned down. The most valuable areas suffered — such as the National [Natural] Park “Sviati Hory” with its chalk pine: pines grew there on chalk outcrops, forming unique ecosystems. Only a few such territories remain in the world. These losses can only be assessed in the future. But scientists of the National Academy of Sciences are already working on this. We are trying to determine the actual environmental damage caused by Russia’s aggression because such vast territories as Eastern and Southern Ukraine have been in a combat zone for the first time in human history since World War II. The consequences of the destruction of these natural areas will be felt by us and our children. Now we, the scientists, are doing the work we are professionals at. But everything must be comprehensive, in cooperation with lawyers and officials. And every person can contribute.”