Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of exploiting the Nova Kakhovka dam; fear massive flooding

First modification: 06/06/2023 – 15:14Last modification: 06/06/2023 – 15:21

Mass evacuations, unprecedented flooding and enormous environmental damage. The explosion in the great dam of Nova Kakhovkain the Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine, has a low risk to thousands of people and animal species.

All in the midst of a new exchange of accusations between Moscow and kyiv about the authorship of the disaster. This Tuesday, June 6, the authorities of the invaded country accused Moscow troops of breaking the large dam on the Dnipro River and “totally destroying” the hydroelectric power station after an explosion.

The facility is located in an area occupied by Russia and Ukraine’s state hydroelectric company said the detonation occurred from inside the structure, in the engine room, making the damage “impossible to repair.”

“Russian terrorists. The destruction of the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station only confirms to the whole world that they must be expelled from all corners of the Ukrainian land. Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror (…) I have convened the National Security and Defense Council,” said Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelensky.

The region could suffer more far-reaching consequences than seen so far: the depletion of water levels that help cool Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, in neighboring Zaporizhia, and drain supplies of the vital liquid to Crimea. , a province illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

“It is a terrible ecological and humanitarian catastrophe. The future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is also in question. The water to cool its reactors comes from the Kakhovka water reservoir (…) The floods resulting from the destruction can cause many deaths. Many people will lose their homes. The people of the south and the Crimea will be left without drinking water,” said the adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko.

At least 16,000 people residing in the area closest to the dam could be affectedsince the water would reach a “critical level” in a matter of hours, highlighted the governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin.

Given this scenario, both the Ukrainian authorities and those imposed by Moscow in the region urged the evacuation of thousands of inhabitants.

kyiv calls UN Security Council meeting after accusing Moscow of a “terrorist attack”

Ukraine urges investigations and sanctions against Moscow. In the last few hours, he called an emergency meeting before the United Nations Security Council to discuss what he called a “Russian terrorist attack” on the Kakhovka dam.

In addition, he requested a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency of the UN to discuss the incident and demanded new international sanctions against the invading country, in particular on the Russian missile industry and the nuclear sector.

“We consider the detonation of the dam by the Russian Federation a terrorist act against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, which is aimed at causing as many civilian casualties and as much destruction as possible,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. .

For kyiv, it was an aggression planned well in advance.

“The terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was previously and intensively discussed between the occupation forces in the Kherson region and propagandists on Russian television, indicating that it was planned in advance,” the Ukrainian ministry added.

Moscow targets kyiv and accuses it of “sabotage”

The Russian version is far from that of kyiv and blames the nation attacked for more than 15 months for being behind the disaster.

Initially, Russian authorities in the town of Nova Kakhovka denied any incident at the dam, but later blamed alleged Ukrainian shelling for the collapse.

Hours later, the Kremlin spoke out, pointing out that it was an act of “sabotage” by its neighboring nation to distract attention from an announced “hesitant” counteroffensive against Russian troops.

“We officially declare that here we are definitely talking about deliberate sabotage on the Ukrainian side (…) Apparently, this sabotage is also connected with the fact that, having started large-scale offensive actions two days ago, now the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not they are achieving their goals, these offensive actions are failing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Likewise, the spokesman for Vladimir Putin’s Presidency pointed out that the destruction of the dam was intended to deprive Crimea, controlled by Russia, of the fresh water it receives from the reservoir through the North Crimean channel.

As Russia and Ukraine engage in mutual accusations once again, both parties to the conflict agree that the disaster could have serious consequences for thousands of residents of the region.

With Reuters and AP