2023-06-06 19:54:16
Time.news – Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, special envoy of Pope Francis, is in Ukraine on a peace mission, but the conflict continues. The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station dam in southern Ukraine is badly damaged: the waters have flooded 24 villages.
The dam is of key importance for the proper functioning of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, for supplying the Crimea peninsula and also for connecting the left and right banks of the Dnieper River, iThe river became the front line between the Russian and Ukrainian armies. Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who are based at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, have assured that “there is no immediate risk to nuclear safety at the plant”.
According to CNN, the Kakhovka dam had already been damaged for several days before the structural collapse tonight. CNN cannot independently verify whether pre-existing damage played a role in the dam’s collapse or whether it was destroyed in a deliberate attack by one of the warring parties.
Satellite images from Maxar show that the road bridge spanning the dam was intact on May 28, but images from June 5 show a section of the same bridge missing. Analysis of low-resolution satellite imagery suggests that the loss of the bridge section occurred between 1 and 2 June.
The Moscow and Kiev versions
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that a Ukrainian counteroffensive was repulsed for three days by Russian forces, which inflicted over 1,500 casualties on the Ukrainians. The Kremlin has condemned the partial destruction of the Kakhovka dam as an act of “deliberate sabotage” by Kiev. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian forces blew up the dam structure from within.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine “another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion”. For the president of the EU Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, “Russia will have to pay for the war crimes committed in Ukraine. The destruction of the dam, an outrageous attack on civilian infrastructure, puts thousands of people at risk in the Kherson region. “Europe is mobilizing support through our Civil Protection Mechanism. We are coordinating with Member States to rapidly deliver: waste water pumps, hydrants and mobile water purification stations.”
Russia will have to pay for the war crimes committed in Ukraine.
The destruction of the dam, an outrageous attack on civilian infrastructure, puts at risk thousands of people in the Kherson region.
Europe is mobilising support through our civil protection mechanism.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 6, 2023
The mission of Cardinal Zuppi
On the diplomatic front, the special envoy of Pope Francis, cardinal Matteo Zuppi, met with Ukrainian President Zelensky. The results of Zuppi’s talks will soon be brought to the Pope’s attention. A ceasefire in Ukraine “will not lead to peace,” Zelensky told Zuppi.
Zelensky reported on Telegram that he had asked the Holy See to “contribute to the implementation of the Ukrainian peace plan”, which provides for the recovery of all occupied territories; and had stressed that “only joint efforts, diplomatic isolation and pressure on Russia can influence the aggressor and bring about a just peace on Ukrainian soil.”
Zuppi also paid his respects to Bucha in the Kyiv region yesterday to the victims buried in the mass grave. The cardinal was accompanied by the head of the regional state administration of Kiev Ruslan Kravchenko, representatives of local authorities and the apostolic nuncio in Kiev, Monsignor Visvaldas Kulbokas.
On the phone with an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China would work with France to “create the conditions” to help “find a political solution” to the war in Ukraine. The parties agreed to “continue to create the conditions” to “find a political solution” to the war, without providing further details.
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