Zelenskyy criticizes international community for timidity after Kakhovka Dam explosion
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The man-made catastrophe at the Kakhovka Dam was "not a natural disaster and not a manifestation of the climate crisis,” the president said, placing the blame squarely at the feet of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy reported that Russian invasion forces were continuing to shell the very areas where evacuation from flooded areas is ongoing, and that people have been wounded.
"People who are rescuing others and themselves from Russian ecocide are also forced to save themselves from Russian fire,” he stated.
“In the occupied part of the territory, where about a dozen settlements have been flooded, there is no evacuation at all. For the second day, people are on the roofs, in a water trap, without drinking water, food, or medical assistance. We do not yet know how many dead and injured there are.”
Read also: Evacuation of people from the left bank of Dnipro requires absolute media silence, says Humeniuk
President Zelenskyy noted that as a result of the Russian terrorist attack, life was destroyed in more than 30 settlements, that fuel storage facilities, warehouses with chemicals, fertilizers, and animal burial grounds were flooded, that sewage effluent was swept into the water, and that thousands of ecosystems were destroyed or put on the verge of extinction.
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"More than 50,000 hectares of forests have been flooded, and at least half of them will die,” he noted.
“Tens of thousands of birds and at least twenty thousand wild animals are at risk of death. It is obvious that the Kakhovka reservoir has been turned into a giant grave for millions of living creatures.”
He emphasized that people in Russian-occupied territories are not receiving help from international organizations, and that "the longer this continues, the more victims there will be,” can called on Ukrainian advocates to pressure international organizations to help ensure that all the damage from the disaster is repaired.”
Read also: Zelenskyy calls environmental devastation in Ukraine ‘ecocide’ by Russian invaders
The president stated that Ukraine is already creating an expert group that will be responsible for uniting the world in holding Russia accountable for ecocide and to ensure "that our country is not left alone with this tragedy."
"Please spread the truth about this Russian ecocide,” Zelenskyy said.
“Call on leaders, states, and international organizations to act. It is no coincidence that in the peace formula we have proposed, one of the key points is countering ecocide. Let's work together to ensure that there are no more ecocides. Join our community, our platform, and our experts.”
Read also: Kakhovka dam destruction kills 10, 40 missing in two Ukrainian oblasts - Interior Ministry
The Kakhovka Dam: what is known about the explosion
On the night of Tuesday, June 6, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka Dam, which has been monitored for over a year. Cities and villages downstream of the dam on the Dnipro River were completely or partially flooded.
Ukrhydroenergo reported that the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was completely destroyed and cannot be repaired. Ukraine’s Southern Command clarified that the entire dam was not destroyed, but there is significant damage.
At an urgent meeting of the National Security Council, President Zelenskyy gave the order to carry out evacuation from at-risk areas and to provide drinking water to all cities and villages that received water from the Kakhovka Reservoir.
Evacuation from the right bank of the Kherson region continued through the night, while on the Russian-occupied left bank, which was much more affected by the flooding, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding.
Read also: Zelenskyy categorically rules out Ukrainian involvement in Nord Stream pipelines sabotage
The Office of the Prosecutor General opened an investigation into the disaster as an act of ecocide, and Ukraine appealed to the International Criminal Court to ensure justice.
Zelenskyy called the Russian terrorist attack on Kakhovka Dam the biggest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades. The Main Directorate of Intelligence stated that the Russian destruction of the dam increased the threat of a nuclear disaster.
Read also: Floods create dire situation in Oleshky as Russians seal off occupied town, governor says
As of 20:00 on June 8, emergency service personnel had evacuated 2,339 people from flooded areas of Kherson Oblast. Thirty two settlements and 3,625 houses on the right bank of the Dnipro were flooded.
Yevhen Ryschuk, the mayor of Russian-occupied Oleshky, reported that at least eight people had died as a result of flooding.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
