Zelenskiy: dam attack 'environmental bomb of mass destruction'
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has condemned the attack on the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russia-occupied south of his country as “an environmental bomb of mass destruction”.
Zelenskiy made the claim in his nightly video address to the nation on Tuesday, adding that only liberation of the whole of Ukraine from the Russian invasion could guarantee against new “terrorist” acts, Reuters reports.
“Such deliberate destruction by the Russian occupiers and other structures of the hydroelectric power station is an environmental bomb of mass destruction,” he said.
He said that he destruction of the dam would “not stop Ukraine and Ukrainians. We will still liberate all our land. Only the complete liberation of Ukrainian land from the Russian occupiers will guarantee that there will be no more such terrorist attacks.”
The Kyiv Independent reports that Ukraine will allocate US$40.6 million for the construction of new water mains:
⚡ Government to allocate $40.6 million for new water mains.
Ukraine’s government will allocate Hr 1.5 billion ($40.6 million) for the construction of new water mains following the breach of the Kakhovka dam, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on June 6.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 6, 2023
Russian forces fire at ammonia pipeline in Kharkiv, says governor
Russian forces repeatedly fired at an ammonia pipeline in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, a local governor said on Tuesday, a conduit potentially crucial for the extension of a deal allowing the safe export of grains and fertilisers from Black Sea ports.
Reuters report that the ammonia pipeline, the world’s longest, stretches about 2,470 kilometres (1,534 miles) from Russia’s Togliatti on the Volga River to three Black Sea ports. It has been shut down since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
There was no recorded leakage from the late Tuesday shelling that hit the pipeline near the village of Masiutivka and an overnight shelling near the village of Zapadne, said Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
“There is no threat to people’s lives and health,” Sinehubov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has condemned the attack on the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russia-occupied south of his country as “an environmental bomb of mass destruction”. Zelenskiy made the claim in his nightly video address to the nation on Tuesday, adding that only liberation of the whole of Ukraine from the Russian invasion could guarantee against new “terrorist” acts. “Such deliberate destruction by the Russian occupiers and other structures of the hydroelectric power station is an environmental bomb of mass destruction,” he said.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that if the bursting of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine on Tuesday was proven to be intentional, it would represent a “new low” in Russian aggression, BBC reporter Chris Mason tweeted.Sunak said the UK’s military and intelligence agencies were looking into the blast and it was too soon to pre-empt the cause and make a definitive judgment, while he was travelling to Washington for his upcoming meeting with Joe Biden, BBC’s Mason said.
US military chief Milley said Ukraine is “well prepared” for a counteroffensive. The senior US military leader, chair of the joint chiefs General Mark Milley, says that while few conclusions can be drawn from an increase of fighting in Ukraine, the country is ‘well prepared’ to carry on the battle against the Russian invasion. But he also cautions the war will be “lengthy”.
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff says he “does not understand” how there are any doubts that Russian forces blew up the dam. In a statement, Andriy Yermak said: “At 2.50am, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and its dam. I do not understand how there can be any doubt about this. Both constructions are located in the temporary Russian-occupied territories. Neither shelling nor any other external influence was capable of destroying the structures. The explosion came from within.”
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of deliberately sabotaging the dam. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, told reporters: “We can state unequivocally that we are talking about deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side.” He said [Russian president] Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the situation.
The US “cannot say conclusively” who was responsible. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the White House: “We’re doing the best we can to assess”, noting “destruction of civilian infrastructure is not allowed by the laws of war”. Earlier Tuesday, NBC News reported that the US government had intelligence indicating Russia was behind the incident, according to two US officials and one western official.
The Ukrainian government called for people living downstream to evacuate in the face of catastrophic flooding. Energy companyUkrahydroenergo said the hydroelectric power plant at the dam had been blown up from the inside and was irreparable.
The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said about 16,000 people were in the “critical zone” on the Ukrainian-controlled right bank of the river. The areas most under threat of flooding are the islands along the course of the Dnipro downstream of Nova Kakhovka and much of the Russian-held left bank in southern Kherson. Andrey Alekseyenko, one of the Russian-installed officials in occupied Kherson, has posted to Telegram to say that up to 22,000 people are in the flood plains in Russian-controlled territory.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry called for an urgent meeting of UN security council to discuss what it called a Russian “terrorist act against Ukrainian critical infrastructure”.
There seems to be no immediate safety threat to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam 200km downstream, according to Ukrainian and UN experts. Water from the reservoir affected by the destruction of the dam is used to supply the plant’s cooling systems.
George Barros, an analyst at the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War, has shared these images showing the extent of the flooding southeast of Kherson city:
Before/after images of flooded homes along the Dnipro River southeast of Kherson City
The Associated Press has this sketch from the evacuations:
As shelling from Russia’s war on Ukraine echoed overhead, dozens of evacuees on an island in the Dnipro River scurried on to the tops of military trucks or into rafts to flee rising flood waters caused by the breach of a dam upstream.
The unnerving bark of dogs left behind further soured the mood of those ferried to safety. A woman in one raft clutched the head of her despondent daughter. A stalled military truck stuck in swelling waters raised the panic level as Red Cross teams tried to manage an orderly evacuation.
Nobody knew just how high the waters rushing through a gaping hole in the Kakhovka dam would rise, or whether people or pets would escape alive.
The scrambled evacuation by boat and military truck from an island neighbourhood off the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson downstream on Tuesday testified to the latest human chaos caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities accused Russian forces of purposely destroying the dam. Russian authorities blamed recent Ukrainian military strikes.
“The Russians have hit the dam, and didn’t think of consequences,” said Oleksandr Sokeryn, who fled his house with his family after it was completely flooded. “They should not be forgiven.”
Officials on both sides said the massive dam breach had caused no civilian casualties, and the hurried escape was aimed to keep it that way.
British PM says military and intelligence agencies looking into the blast
Rishi Sunak said that if the bursting of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine on Tuesday was proven to be intentional, it would represent a “new low” in Russian aggression, BBC reporter Chris Mason tweeted.
The British PM said the UK’s military and intelligence agencies were looking into the blast and it was too soon to pre-empt the cause and make a definitive judgment, while he was travelling to Washington for his upcoming meeting with Joe Biden, BBC’s Mason said.
Here are some recent photos of residents from the areas affected by flooding:
Women embrace after their evacuation from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka Dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine. Photograph: Reuters
Two people huddle under a blanket with their cat after their evacuation from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka Dam in Kherson breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. Photograph: Reuters
Rescuers evacuate residents and pets from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine 6 June 2023. REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko Photograph: Reuters
The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam has been widely condemned as a possible war crime.
John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the national security council, said the US was assessing whether it a war crime
Multiple Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that if Russia had attacked the dam it would be a war crime under the terms of the Geneva conventions.
The conventions mention dams, which are listed under “works containing dangerous forces”:
Article 56 – Protection of works and installations containing dangerous forces
1. Works or installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population. Other military objectives located at or in the vicinity of these works or installations shall not be made the object of attack if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces from the works or installations and consequent severe losses among the civilian population.
Hi, this is Helen Sullivan taking over our coverage of the war in Ukraine and the attack on Nova Kakhovka dam.
I’ll be with you for the next while. If you see news you think we may have missed, have questions, or live near Nova Kakhovka dam get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Russia’s UN envoy was accused of floundering in a mud of lies when he claimed at an emergency session of the UN security council that Ukraine was guilty of a extremely dangerous strategy and a war crime by destroying Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.
Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukraine envoy to the UN, said it was typical of Russians to blame the victim for its own crimes, noting that Russia has controlled the dam for more than a year and it would have been physically impossible to blow it up by shelling. He said the dam was mined by the Russian occupiers who blew it up and accused Russia of floundering in a mud of lies.
Kyslytsya also said the flooding caused by the explosion was going to be far worse on the Ukrainian occupied side of the Dnipro river.
“By resorting to scorched earth tactics, or in this case to flooded Earth tactics, the Russian occupiers have effectively recognised that the captured territory does not belong to them, and they are not able to hold these lands,” he said.
Neither French US or British representatives at the UN directly claimed there was evidence of Russian responsibility, but called for an investigation and insisted their support was unwavering to Ukraine.
The United States said it was “not certain” who was to blame for a burst dam in Ukraine, but it would not make sense for Ukraine to have done this to its own people and territory, while Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for the disaster.
The 15-member UN security council met on Tuesday at the request of both Russia and Ukraine after a torrent of water burst through a massive dam on the Dnipro River, which separates the opposing forces in southern Ukraine.
When asked if the United States knew who was responsible, deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told reporters ahead of the council meeting: “We’re not certain at all, we hope to have more information in the coming days.”
“But, I mean, come on … why would Ukraine do this to its own territory and people, flood its land, force tens of thousands of people to leave their homes – it doesn’t make sense,” Wood said.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, said earlier on Tuesday that it did not have any independent information on how the dam burst, but described it as “another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
