"We need an immediate, maximum global response to Russian terror": Zelensky on Kakhovka dam destruction
Photo: the presidential office
All international organizations and every state must respond to the act of ecocide committed by the Russians who blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called for this in his address about the Russian ecocide due to the detonation of the hydroelectric power plant.
"I appeal to everyone in the world for whom life is of value. Today, on our Ukrainian land, the Russian occupiers have committed the greatest crime of ecocide, not only during this war but for decades," said the Head of State. "The virtually destroyed Kakhovka reservoir is one of the largest in Ukraine, with 18 billion cubic meters of water. All the structures of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and its dam were in the occupied territory under the complete control of the Russian occupiers."
Zelensky added that "as early as last fall, we had information about the dam being mined by the occupiers at the Kakhovska HPP. They did it on purpose. First, to blackmail the world. Second, to blow up the dam and use the flood as a weapon. This actually happened."
Zelenskyi said that tens of thousands of people remain in the flood zone, where more than a hundred thousand people lived before the war.
The Ukrainian leader emphasized that the destruction of the dam and reservoir is a man-made blow to the surrounding natural environment, after which nature will have to recover for decades.
According to the head of Ukraine, at this time, it is impossible to predict how many chemicals, fertilizers, and petroleum products stored in the flooded areas will enter the rivers and the sea.
"Several things are obvious today. First: such a crime of ecocide could not have occurred simply because of shelling the dam. To destroy it, the Russian forces had to act deliberately, mine, blow up, and destroy. Second: no country in the world should be alone against such terror, and I am grateful to everyone who helps Ukraine! Third: We need an immediate and maximum global response to Russian terror. From the UN Security Council to every international institution. Every state, every leader," he said.
Zelensky added that Russian terrorists must leave Ukraine's entire territory, every meter they try to use for evil and disasters. "The faster de-occupation is, the faster security will be," he said.
The deliberate destruction of the hydroelectric dam by terrorists looks the same from every point of view. Both for Africa and Europe, and for the United States, China, Australia, and India, man-made disasters are evil, Zelensky said.
"We must stop Russian evil. All other terrorists in the world must see that the world punishes terror," the president urged.
Destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant: what will be the consequences and what to do now
Background
As Rubryka reported, on the night of June 6, Russian invaders blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, located a few kilometers from the temporarily occupied city of Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region.
As a result of the dam's destruction, the water in the Kakhovka reservoir began to fall rapidly, threatening to flood.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, reported that the evacuation of the local population from dangerous areas had begun as a result of the Russian occupiers blowing up the Kakhovka HPP, eight settlements and one micro-district of Kherson were entirely or partially flooded.
As we reported, the Russian occupying forces blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, and the HPP cannot be restored.
