Karolina Uskakovych

Vinnytsia Khimprom factory was once one of Ukraine’s largest chemical plants during the Soviet era. After going bankrupt in the late 1990s, it left behind a toxic phosphogypsum stack. Over the past 25 years, this site has evolved into a unique post-industrial ecosystem, consisting of a forest, a wetland area, a pond, and a meadow. The white phosphogypsum cliffs now host colonies of house martins and bank swallows, while the rainwater-filled pond attracts magpies, wood pigeons, and ducks. Thick reeds provide a habitat for wetland bird species. Do these “white cliffs” pose an environmental contamination risk, or do they serve as a wildlife haven in the city’s industrial zone? Can these roles coexist? This project explores the distinctly Ukrainian post-industrial urban ecology through ethnographic research, archival materials, and collaborations with experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The white cliffs of Vinnytsia offer an ecological entry point into Ukraine’s Soviet past, spectral present, and decolonial futures.