The Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine has been blown up, Ukrainian and Russian officials said on Tuesday, threatening to flood areas downstream along the Dnieper River, also called the Dnipro River.Ukraine’s state hydroelectric company said the power plant had been “totally destroyed” after a detonation inside the engine room.Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for the damage and have offered conflicting versions on the safety situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, some 150 kilometres away.The Soviet-era dam also supplies water to the Crimean peninsula downstream, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and supplies a reservoir upstream to the Zaporizhzhia power plant.Several islands have flooded while both Ukrainian and Russian-installed authorities said some 80 settlements downstream were at risk of being inundated.Photo: DWZelenskyy tells Vatican envoy cease-fire won’t lead to peaceUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday told Vatican peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi that a cease-fire would not lead to peace in the ongoing conflict in his country, instead suggesting that the only way to end Russia’s war of aggression was through “isolation and pressure.” The president said any deal designed to end the war must be on Kyiv’s terms. “The head of state emphasized that a cease-fire and freezing of the conflict will not lead to peace,” the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement.Zuppi’s two-day visit to discuss “humanitarian interaction between Ukraine and the Holy See” was intended to allow the Vatican representative to, “listen in-depth to Ukrainian authorities about possible ways to achieve peace.” Zelenskyy suggested “the Holy See could make an effective contribution” by seeking to bring about the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and children “deported” to Russia.Pope Francis has repeatedly called for peace, even offering to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin — an offer rejected by the Kremlin — but he faced criticism for initially failing to call out Moscow for launching its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.Tens of thousands evacuated after dam explosionUkrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin on Tuesday announced that 17,000 people had so far been evacuated in the aftermath of the Kakhovka dam explosion. “Over 40,000 people are in danger of being flooded. Ukrainian authorities are evacuating over 17,000 people,” he wrote on social media. Kostin estimated that a further 25,000 people would need to be evacuated on the Russian-controlled side of the Dnieper River.The Germany-based Catholic aid organisation Caritas on Tuesday said it had begun directing aid toward Odesa, where many displaced Ukrainians are expected to flee. The organisation said those fleeing their homes would be in desperate need of water, food and shelter.Russia accuses Ukraine of blowing up dam as plot to ‘transfer units’Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu accused Ukraine of blowing up the critical Nova Kakhovka dam as part of a plan to redeploy units from the Kherson region.The ministry statement read the flooding was to prevent Russia from attacking Kherson, while allowing Ukraine to “transfer units and equipment from the Kherson front to the area of offensive operations.”Shoigu did not provide evidence for his claims. Ukraine has also not provided evidence for blaming Moscow for damaging the dam.Baerbock says Russian aggression in Ukraine leads to dam situationGerman foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine ultimately led to the situation wherein an important dam was damaged.Baerbock tweeted: “A dam near a nuclear power plant is misused as a weapon of war and human lives are put in grave danger. There is only one thing responsible for this environmental catastrophe: Russia’s criminal war of aggression on Ukraine.”The Nova Kakhovka dam is 30 meters high (98-foot-high) and supplies water for a wide swath of southern Ukraine. It also supplies water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which lies upstream.Ukraine calls for emergency meeting of Security CouncilUkraine’s foreign ministry called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam.“Ukraine calls for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council and brings the issue of the Russian terrorist act to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement.Kuleba asked for Russia to be kicked out of the powerful UN body. Kyiv has accused Moscow of blowing up the dam and putting thousands of lives at risk.Nova Kakhovka flooded after dam breachThe Russian-occupied city of Nova Kakhovka, which lies immediately downstream from the dam, has been inundated, Moscow-installed officials said.“Water is rising,” Russian-installed Mayor Vladimir Leontyev said.“We are organising temporary accommodation centres with hot meals,” he said, adding that 53 buses were being sent to evacuate civilians.“Emergency rescuers, city administration workers and soldiers are at work,” he added. “Help will be given to all those who need it.”Leontyev posted footage to Telegram showing flooding in the town’s main square, and near the main Soviet-era house of culture.Ukrainian officials condemn ecological destructionUkraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the flooding caused by the dam explosion could cause “long and irreversible harm” to the region’s environment.“Animals in the Nova Kakhovka Zoo have already died in the rising water,” he said, adding it was “only the beginning of harm” for the wildlife in southern Ukraine.“We are witnessing (an) ecocide on a regional, not just Ukrainian, scale,” he added.Meanwhile, senior presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said “a global ecological disaster is playing out now, online, and thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours.”Dam attack causes major oil leakUkraine has warned of a “negative impact” on the environment after a large amount oil from the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam spilled into the Dnieper River.“150 tonnes of engine oil got into the Dnieper River due to the explosion,” presidential communications advisor Daria Zarivna said on social media.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy added that there is “a risk of further leakage of more than 300 tons.”Germany’s Scholz says explosion consistent with Putin’s strategyGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the attack on the Kakhovka dam is in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy of escalating violence and targeting civilian infrastructure.“For this reason, this is something that has a new dimension but which fits with the way in which Putin wages this war,” Scholz said in an interview with German broadcaster WDR.He said this makes it all the more important for German to support Ukraine for as long as necessary. Moscow has blamed Ukrainian forces for the incident.Ukrainian and Russian officials trade blame“The Kakhovka [reservoir] was blown up by the Russian occupying forces,” the South command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Tuesday morning on its Facebook page.“The scale of the destruction, the speed and volumes of water, and the likely areas of inundation are being clarified.”The Ukraine’s Kherson regional administration said that the water level would reach a critical level in five hours and began evacuating the population from dangerous areas.The Moscow-installed mayor of the nearby town of Nova Kakhovka initially denied social media reports that the dam had been blown up, but later said the dam had been shelled in “a serious terrorist act.”Zelenskyy accused ‘Russian terrorists’ of dam attackUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy labelled Russia “terrorists” and lay the blame at Moscow’s feet.“The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.“Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror.”Russian terrorists. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land. Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror. It’s only… pic.twitter.com/ErBog1gRhH— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 6, 2023Zelenskyy said he had convened the National Security and Defense Council and called for people to spread only official and verified information.Evacuations underway downstreamRussian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, which lies immediately downstream from the dam, has begun civilian evacuations. A state of emergency has also been declared in the district.Vladimir Leontyev said the water level in the town had risen by 10 meters (33 feet) and is expected to reach 12 meters.“The water continues to mount. An evacuation is being carried out of civilians from the adjacent flooded zones to preserve all lives… There is no panic in the town,” he said in a video message on Telegram.NATO condemns dam blastNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the destruction of the Kakhovka dam shows the brutality of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“The destruction of the Kakhovka dam today puts thousands of civilians at risk and causes severe environmental damage,” Stoltenberg said in a post on Twitter“This is an outrageous act, which demonstrates once again the brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine.”Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential advisor Andriy Yermak called the incident “ecocide.”Russia claims the dam was shelled by Ukrainian forces.‘No immediate risk’ to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there is “no immediate threat” to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.“IAEA experts at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant are closely monitoring the situation,” the United Nations agency wrote on Twitter.The Russian engineer currently in charge of the power plant, Yury Chernichuk, said the water cooling the facility’s spent nuclear fuel storage rods operates on a closed circuit and is not in direct contact with the Dnieper River.“At the moment there are no threats to the safety of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” the official with Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom said.Ukraine’s state nuclear agency also said the situation was under control, but added that lower water levels nevertheless posed an additional threat to the safety of the power station.Undermining of Kakhovka HPP by ruscists may have negative consequences for ZNPP but the situation is under control‼️ More at https://t.co/OHrQ8nzsEA#standwithukraine #stoprussia #russiaisaterrorisstate pic.twitter.com/qKa80cxXjo— Energoatom (@energoatom_ua) June 6, 2023This article was originally published on DW.
