2023-06-07 02:31:59
Ukraine and Russia They accused each other yesterday of destroying a dam in southern Ukraine, in one of the “most significant damages against civil infrastructure” in the country since the start of the Russian invasion.which caused flooding in some twenty towns and forced the evacuation of thousands of people, in addition to generating fears about effects on Zaporizhia nuclear power plantwhich uses the water from that dam to cool its reactors.
thousands of evacuees
“So far, 24 towns in Ukraine have been flooded,” said the Interior Minister, Igor Klymenkor, while the attorney general, Andrii KostinHe reported that more than 17,000 civilians had to be evacuated of the flooded areas.
The Kakhovka dam, located 60 kilometers from the city of Kherson, is a key infrastructure of southern Ukraine and supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014. Both that facility and the hydroelectric plant, which was “totally destroyed”, were taken over by Russian troops at the start of the large-scale invasion of the neighboring country, launched on February 24, 2022.
flooded areas
The head of the Ukrainian military administration in Kherson, Oleksandr Prokudinsaid that several towns were “completely or partially flooded” and that they had begun to evacuate the population from the area.
“More than 40,000 people could be in flooded areas. The Ukrainian authorities evacuated more than 17,000 people. Unfortunately, more than 25,000 civilians are in the territory under Russian control,” Ukrainian prosecutor Kostin said on Twitter. A senior official installed by the Russians in the part of the Kherson region under his control announced the evacuation of some 900 people from the occupied areas near the Dnieper river.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian authorities indicated that the partial destruction of the dam caused the spillage of “150 tons of motor oil” into the Dnieper River. “There is also a risk of new oil leaks, which has a negative impact on the environment,” Daria Zarivna, press adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram.
“Deliberate sabotage”
In this framework, the authorities designated by Moscow in that area accused kyiv of destroying the construction through “multiple attacks.” In tune, the Kremlin yesterday attributed the partial destruction of the dam to “deliberate sabotage” by Ukraine. “This is undoubtedly an act of deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side, which was planned and executed by order of kyiv”told the press the spokesman of the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.
“All the responsibility lies with the Kiev regime,” the official insisted, stating that one of the objectives of what happened is “to deprive Crimea of water.” According to the spokesman, “this act of sabotage could have very serious consequences for tens of thousands of inhabitants of the region” of Kherson, as well as “environmental consequences.”
The Russian government urged the international community to condemn Ukraine for the partial destruction of the dam. “We call on the international community to condemn the criminal actions of the Ukrainian authoritieswhich are increasingly inhumane and pose a serious threat to regional and global security,” said a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
For its part, the Russian justice system announced the opening of a criminal case for “terrorism” after the destruction of the dam. “A criminal case was initiated for an offense defined in sections a) and c) of paragraph 2 of article 205 of the Criminal Code (terrorist acts committed by a group of people by prior agreement that cause significant material damage and other serious consequences)”, The entity wrote on its Telegram channel.
“Brutal ecocidio”
Instead, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of having attacked the dam in order to “stop” the counteroffensive that kyiv is preparing to regain lost ground in the south and east of the country.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said yesterday that “the world must react” and added that “Russia is at war against life, against nature, against civilization”. “Russia blew up a bomb and has caused massive environmental damage,” the president said.
“It is the biggest environmental catastrophe caused by man in Europe for decades,” added the leader, referring to fears about the destruction of flora and fauna in this area of southern Ukraine.. “Russia is guilty of a brutal ecocide”Zelensky also said, for whom the Moscow forces “must be held fully responsible for their terror.”
UN Council meeting
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting in response to requests in this regard from the Russian and Ukrainian authorities, diplomatic sources indicated, according to the AFP agency. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterressaid that what happened is “another devastating consequence” of the Russian invasion of its neighbor.
“Today’s tragedy is yet another example of the horrible price of war for the people,” Guterres told reporters in New York, adding that the UN “does not have access to independent information about the circumstances that led to the destruction.”
The White House considered yesterday that there will be “probably a lot of deaths” from the destruction of the dam, but pointed out that it still lacks concrete evidence to say who was behind the act.
Alert in Zaporizhia
The Kakhovka dam also supplies cooling water to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), led by the Argentine Rafael Grossiindicated that there is no immediate risk. “The IAEA is aware of reports of damage to the Kakhovka dam, experts at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant are closely monitoring the situation, there is no immediate nuclear safety risk at the plant,” the IAEA nuclear agency said. the UN on Twitter.
The management of the nuclear power plant, under occupation by Moscow, agreed that there is no threat to the atomic plant. “At the moment there is no threat to the security of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” the director said on Telegram. Yuri Chernichuk.
In contrast, for Ukrainians, the danger of a “nuclear catastrophe” at the plant “is increasing rapidly” after the partial destruction of the dam 150 kilometers away, said a presidential adviser in Kiev. “The world is once again on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe, since the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has lost its cooling source. And this danger is increasing rapidly now,” he lamented. Mijail Podoliak in a message addressed to journalists.
Red Cross, Amnesty and HRW sentences
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), considered a kind of guardian of International Law, recalled that “dams have special protection”, after learning of the attack against the facility located in southern Ukraine. The organization specified that this fact is about “one of the most significant damages against civil infrastructures” since the beginning of the invasion and noted that the attack may constitute a war crime.
The NGOs Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) yesterday condemned the environmental and humanitarian disaster caused by the destruction of the Kajovka hydroelectric dam.
“We are deeply concerned for the safety of hundreds of people affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station dam in the Kherson region of Ukraine, and by the great environmental devastation that floods will cause“, declared the director of Environment and Human Rights of HRW, Richard Pearshouseit’s a statement.
Pearshouse, adding that the plant also supplies water to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which uses the reservoir for cooling its facilities, the largest in Europe, called on Russian and Ukrainian authorities to evacuate civilians from the affected areas. and provide medical and humanitarian care.
For her part, the regional director of Eastern Europe and Central Asia of AI, Marie Strutherscalled on the international community to bring those responsible for this “enormous humanitarian disaster” to justice.
“The norms of Humanitarian Law specifically protect dams due to the dangers that their destruction represents for the civilian population,” Struthers said, adding that the attack on Kajovka is a “catastrophe that endangers the lives, safety and well-being of hundreds of thousands of people.”
Along these lines, he assured that its destruction supposes a “human and environmental disaster” which “will deprive the population of drinking water supplies, including in major cities and on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.”
“Particularly worryingly, it can have catastrophic effects on the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, which is also under Russian control and which depends on Dnieper water for critical maintenance,” he recalled, according to the Europa Press news agency. Struthers demanded an “independent” and “impartial” investigation into the event.
“We reiterate our call for all alleged perpetrators of aggression, war crimes and other crimes under international law are brought to justice in fair trials and that victims and survivors receive full reparation.”he claimed.
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