Russian troops have triggered a chemical disaster in Ukraine after clashes lead to a pungent cloud of lethal ammonia being released into the air.
Local officials reported at the end of May that Vladimir Putin's forces had loosened the "Togliatti-Odessa" ammonia pipeline during a military operation.
The fighting lead to the gas being released into the skies near Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the site of the war's new front line.
The branch of the pipeline affected had been out of use since 2014 and the valves were closed at the time - but the corrosive element still slipped out, officials said.
The gas - which is mainly used as fertiliser - is corrosive and exposure can cause the eyes, nose and throat to burn.
Higher amounts can lead to blindness, lung damage and even death.
Writing on Telegram, the Chairman of the Donetsy Oblast Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said: "Due to the actions of the Russian army, another natural disaster occurred in Ukraine.
"Donetsk RMA warns that in the Bakhmut district of Donetsk region, as a result of combat operations, damaged the tightness of the branch of the ammonia pipeline.
"A cloud of ammonia is moving over from the village of Maiske towards Bakhmut. Bakhmut, Hladosovo, Dacha, Mykolayivka Druha, Odradivka and Opitne may also be affected.
"Local authorities have informed the public about the necessary security measures. Rescuers are ready to eliminate the consequences of the accident."
Russia's bombing of the Azovstal steelworks could cause a major environmental crisis as thousands of tons of toxic chemicals risk being dumped into the sea.
Mariupol City Council reported today how the shelling of the Azovstal iron and steel plant could have dire consequences for local wildlife and cause a "world-class environmental catastrophe".
The council fears the bombs could have damages a facility holding back tens of thousands of tons of concentrated hydrogen sulfide solution, reports EspresoTV.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said: "The leak of this liquid will completely kill the flora and fauna of the Sea of Azov. Then dangerous substances can get into the Black and Mediterranean Seas."
The mayor called for United Nations experts to be granted immediate admission to prevent the climate threat.
He added that Russia is trying to create a ghetto in Mariupol and that the chemical-tainted water supply could cause another crisis.
Russian troops stormed the plant on April 19 and destroyed large areas, however, pockets of organised resistance fighters battled on at the plant for weeks - refusing to surrender.
Members of the Azov Battalion, a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine in Mariupol, were based in the plant.
As the war rolls on, Putin has threatened to hit new targets if the West supplies longer-range missiles to Ukraine in the fight against Russian invaders.
The warning came hours before the Ministry of Defence announced it would help Ukrainian fighters defend their country by sending rocket launchers that can hit targets 50 miles away.
Explosions rocked Kyiv in the first assault on the capital in weeks as Russian strategic bombers fired missiles from as far away as the Caspian Sea.
Putin said the “fuss” around Western weapon supplies to Ukraine was designed to drag out the conflict, as Russian troops struggle against dug-in defenders in the eastern Donbas region,
He warned that if the US dispatched longer-range missiles to the war zone, “we will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting”.
