By: Pavlo Orel, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Ukraine in Thailand
Since the beginning of the war of aggression waged by Russia against Ukraine, there have been so many crimes and atrocities committed by the aggressor-state forces, causing suffering and pain to the Ukrainian people.
One can remember Bucha, Mariupol, Borodyanka, as well as many other places in Ukraine where Russian troops or their proxies committed brutal crimes and atrocities against the civilian population.
Now, they did it again. A crime that may lead to the ecocide of Ukrainian land.
On June 6, 2023, Russian invaders deliberately blew up the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in Ukraine, resulting in the biggest ecological and humanitarian disaster in Europe in decades.
The dam was located near the town of Nova Kakhovka in the currently occupied territory of the Kherson region and contained approximately 18.2 cubic kilometers of water inside the Kakhovka water reservoir.
According to current estimates, more than 80 small towns and villages on both sides of the Dnipro River are facing the immediate impact of floods, and 40 thousand citizens are stuck in the emergency zone.
Ukraine considers the detonation of the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by the Russian Federation as a terrorist act against Ukrainian critical infrastructure, which aims to cause as many civilian casualties and destruction as possible.
The terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was previously intensely discussed at the level of the occupation forces in the Kherson region and propagandists on Russian television, indicating that it was planned in advance.
The explosion of the dam is an ecological and technological act of terrorism, the biggest technological disaster in Europe in recent decades, and yet another example of Russia’s genocide against Ukrainians. This is also the Kremlin’s response to countries calling for peace talks with the Russian Federation.
Due to the decrease in the water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir, caused by the detonation of the Kakhovka dam by Russian occupiers, there is also a danger of an incident at another critical infrastructure facility occupied by Russia – the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
At the same time, according to the experts from Ukraine and the IAEA, the situation at the nuclear power plant is currently under control. Ukraine is doing everything possible to ensure that its operation is safe.
At present, the Ukrainian authorities have organized the evacuation of residents from the flooded settlements to the city of Kherson, then to the city of Mykolaiv, and from there to the city of Khmelnytskyi.
All regions of Ukraine are involved in the issue of eliminating the consequences of the man-made disaster due to the deliberate destruction of the dam in the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.
The destruction of the dam will deprive or dramatically worsen the water supply to the Kherson region and will seriously complicate the situation in the Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions (problems may arise in Kryvyi Rih, Nikopol, Marhanka, and many other settlements).
A decrease in the water level in the Kakhov reservoir will lead to a decrease in its level in all water intakes of the surrounding regions.
In particular, there is a risk of water shortage in the Kakhovsky Canal, which supplies water to the occupied Berdyansk and most of the settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Also, by blowing up the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, the possibility of supplying water from the Dnipro River to temporarily occupied Crimea is destroyed, as the level of the Kahovsky reservoir is so critical that water simply will not get through the North Crimean Canal.
Another risk arising from this act of state terrorism by Russia is the impact on food security, as the region is well-known as a strategically important area for harvesting in Ukraine.
By blowing up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, Russian terrorists threaten global food security and prices.
People in the world should understand that it is Russia who deprives their families of accessible food or imposes an additional financial burden with the increase in the price of food commodities.
By causing this man-made disaster, equivalent to the use of a weapon of mass destruction, Russian terrorists hoped to prevent a Ukrainian counteroffensive, but this terrorist attack will in no way affect our ability to liberate all temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory.
Russia will have to compensate for all the consequences of its crime: for people, infrastructure, and the environment.
This is just another crime of the Russian Federation that confirms the high relevance of the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine.
This Ukrainian Initiative is a clear and comprehensive plan, the implementation of which should lead to the establishment of sustainable peace, justice, restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the creation of a new European security architecture.
It is aimed at genuine restoration of peace – which is a key goal for Ukraine, in contrast to Russia, the latter seeking only a respite to regroup, replenish its forces, and attack again.
Ukraine is interested in engaging the widest possible range of states in the implementation of the Peace Formula to reach peace and end this war of aggression.
In this regard, I call upon international partners, including Thailand, to join its implementation as soon as possible, highlighting the points on countering ecocide, food security, as well as nuclear and energy safety.
The detonation of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by the Russian occupiers is another heinous war crime of ecocide, an environmental weapon of mass destruction.
Ukraine calls on the international community to resolutely condemn the Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.
I also call on the Royal Thai Government, international organizations, charity funds, companies, and people of Thailand to increase humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine to alleviate their sufferings caused by the consequences of Russia’s ongoing aggression, such as the deliberate destruction of the dam in Ukraine by the invaders.