Explosion by the occupiers of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant. ECOCIDE
The demolition and destruction of the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant is a war crime of Russia and an act of ecocide committed by the occupying forces of the Russian Federation around 2:50 on the night of June 6, 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant was mined and blown up, which led to its destruction. About 16,000 people were in the disaster zone and about 80 settlements were flooded as a result of the terrorist attack.
The large-scale environmental disaster caused by the destruction of the dam is an act of ecocide, because there is no doubt about the intentionality of the actions of the Russian invaders. Under international law, it is a war crime, since the destruction of dams is expressly prohibited even if they are military objects.
➤ The course of events
On June 6, at 2:35 and 2:54 am, seismic sensors in Ukraine and Romania detected signs of powerful explosions. And US reconnaissance satellites, equipped with infrared sensors, recorded signs of heat corresponding to a strong explosion in the area of the dam of the Kakhovsky reservoir. In the morning of the same day, according to the official message of the Operational Command “South” of the Armed Forces, it became known about the man-made disaster at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
At 06:45, the chairman of the Kherson Regional State Administration Alexander Prokudin made a statement, where he noted that in 5 hours the water will reach a critical level. Also, he urged people to collect things and wait for evacuation.
Around 7 am, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in view of the terrorist attack on the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant.
At 8 o'clock, the Kherson City Council announced the de-energization of the Karabel neighborhood due to the threat of flooding, and also announced the shutdown of gas supply. And already from about 9 o'clock it began to flood.
On the official page of Energoatom SE, the water level reduction was called an additional threat to Zaporizhzhya NPP. They also noted that “as of 8:00am, the water level is 16.6 meters, and this is enough for the needs of the station.” Also, the IAEA confirmed that there is no immediate threat to the nuclear power plant.
Around 10 o'clock, the Prosecutor General's Office announced the initiation of a criminal case on the facts of ecocide and violation of the laws and customs of war.
➤ Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klymenko has been appointed as the head of work on the elimination of the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovsk hydroelectric power plant.
On June 6, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine established a headquarters for the liquidation of the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovsk hydroelectric power plant and appointed the Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Klymenko as the head of the liquidation works. This was announced by Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal at a meeting of the government.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced the evacuation of the settlements of Mykolaivka, Olhivka, Lviv, Tyaginka, Ivanivka, Tokarivka, Poniativka, Pridniprovske, Sadove, Kherson Korabel, which the locals call Ostriv.
“We are looking for ways to evacuate our citizens from the left bank of the Kherson region,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said the next day, June 7, in Kherson, where the headquarters for the elimination of the consequences of the hydropower plant explosion works.
Igor Klymenko, who is the head of the liquidation works, visited the points to which boats and all-terrain vehicles transport residents whose homes are in the water.
“Evacuation work continues. We try to do it as quickly as possible. A strong current is obstructed, as well as shelling by the Russian military,” the Minister of Internal Affairs noted.
To land, rescuers and police evacuate not only people, but also domestic animals that manage to be saved. After that, the victims are sent to the help points.
“The headquarters will work around the clock - as long as necessary. At the same time, we are working on the tasks that will face us when the water leaves. There is a lot of work. First of all, it will concern environmental pollution. 150 tons of lubricant leaked from the engine room during the explosion of the hydroelectric power plant,” Igor Klymenko said.
“We are saving everyone on the right bank and developing a plan to help people on the left,” the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klymenko said on the evening of June 7 on the Rada TV channel as part of the all-Ukrainian television marathon “United News”.
He reported that 1894 citizens had already been evacuated by rescuers, police and volunteers.
“The evacuation will be until sunset and from the very morning we will continue it. Currently, 30 settlements remain in the flood zone. 20 of them are in the controlled territory and 10 in the temporarily occupied territory. And I want to say that really on the left bank of the Dnieper, the occupiers do not evacuate people at all. They left them for naught. Therefore, we have now turned to international organizations and are developing a plan to save our people,” said Igor Klymenko.
The Minister stressed that rescuers will come in time to help all people who will need help.
“All the people we are evacuating are provided with food and water. This is now the first problem. But the leadership of the Military-Civil Administration and the Headquarters for the elimination of the consequences of a man-made disaster have done everything to ensure that no person needs drinking water and does not have problems with movement,” he said.
In the first hours after the tragedy, 8 evacuation points were deployed and all people were in a safe place and receiving assistance.
On the right bank of the Kherson region, police evacuate citizens from flooded areas and record the consequences of shelling and demolition by Russian troops of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant
After the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant, the Russian army did not stop shelling the right bank of the Kherson region with rocket systems of volley fire, long-range artillery, mortars, aircraft and UAVs.
On June 8, the settlements of Beryslav and Kherson districts were under the attack of the enemy. Russian troops carried out air strikes with guided bombs on the city of Berislav and the village of Odradokamenka, as a result of enemy actions a 57-year-old man was killed, Russia destroyed houses and outbuildings. The enemy is also shelling evacuation points and boats with civilians.
Police officers, together with all specialized services and volunteers, respond to reports of citizens who, due to the rapid rise of water, were blocked in entrances and private houses, on roofs and cars. Border guards with the help of quadrocopters transfer water to local people.
The victims, who were left without a roof over their heads due to the actions of the occupying army and whose belongings were destroyed, are taken to safer places. During the evacuation in the city of Kherson, Russian military dropped ammunition from a drone on police workers who were rescuing people from the flooded area. As a result, two law enforcement officers were wounded, they had mine blast injuries and multiple shrapnel wounds.
On June 8, 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrived on a working visit to Kherson region. The Head of State stressed that it is important to calculate losses and allocate funds for compensation to residents affected by the disaster, and to develop a program for compensation of losses or relocation of enterprises within Kherson region.
In just one day, the police opened 34 criminal proceedings under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of the laws and customs of war”.
In the territories liberated from the Rashists, the police continue to record war crimes of the army of the Russian Federation, which uses prohibited means and methods of fighting. Such crimes have no statute of limitations.
The police call on citizens who have suffered as a result of Russia's armed aggression to report the crimes of the occupiers. Everyone guilty of such crimes will be identified, found and punished.
Third day of elimination of consequences: Igor Klymenko reported on the results of evacuation measures.
“Terrorists have just bombed the city of Beryslav and Beryslav district with guided aerial bombs, and now we are only establishing the consequences of these bombings, so we can once again state that the Russian regime is showing its terrorist face,” said the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klymenko from the scene of the incident.
He also appealed to all those who help to eliminate the consequences of the disaster:
“We clearly need to work together. A single team in a single system. We need to know how many vessels we have, how many people and equipment we have. Therefore, a great request to all those who are involved and have the desire to continue to participate in the elimination of consequences. First, contact the Headquarters of the Consequences, it works around the clock. After all, only together we can prove that we are an indestructible nation,” the Minister said.
Rescuers continue to provide assistance to citizens affected by flooding in Mykolaiv region
Due to the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant by the occupiers, the water continues to flood not only the settlements adjacent to the Kherson region, but the water also reached the settlements of the Mykolaiv region. Rescuers of the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Nikolaev area evacuated 75 people from the village. Afanasiivka of Snigirovsk territorial community of Bashtansky district. Currently, the work is ongoing.
Igor Klymenko: The authorities will do everything possible to ensure the livelihood of communities in Dnipropetrovsk region
This was stated by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on June 10.
“We worked all day today in the Dnipropetrovsk region. First, a meeting of the Headquarters for the elimination of the consequences of the disaster at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was held. We discussed the needs of settlements in the south of Dnipropetrovsk region to provide drinking water, technical water. A large number of systems were directed to the south of the region in order to ensure the timely delivery of such water,” said the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klymenko.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that at the same time the epidemiological situation in the region was discussed. They also paid attention to the state of the water that will be pumped for use by the population. Dozens of stationary points are located in the south of the Dnipropetrovsk region, there are also more than 10 mobile water delivery points.
“Our people should be sure that the authorities will do everything possible to ensure the livelihood of the settlements of the Dnipropetrovsk region. We also work in other areas. We meet not only with regional leaders, but with local leaders of territorial communities and the population so that people know that they are not abandoned and help will come to them on time,” the Minister said.
The Minister of Internal Affairs listened to reports of heads of regional headquarters, municipal enterprises, heads of central executive bodies. According to operational data, as of the morning of June 10, the Marganetska, Nikopol, Pokrovsk and Grushevskaya territorial communities of the Dnipropetrovsk region partially remained without water supply.
The water level of the Kakhovsky reservoir within the Dnipropetrovsk region continues to decline. Only near Nikopol overnight the water level dropped by 60 centimeters. In communities that are already partially without water supply, drinking water is carried out, in particular by units of the State Emergency Service and the National Police. There were also 5 hospitals in the danger zone.
“One of the key issues is drinking water for our citizens. We are talking about epidemiological safety, we are talking about at least minimally normal life activity of people. We all bear responsibility to our people, the state in these difficult times for Ukraine,” said Igor Klymenko.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine instructed the responsible departments to determine the amount of water that communities will need in the absence of central water supply, to investigate epidemiological risks, and to speed up the implementation of projects for the arrangement of new wells.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the head of work on the elimination of the consequences of the hydroelectric power plant explosion Igor Klymenko in Kherson region met with Andriy Seletsky - the head of the Novovorontsov settlement military administration.
The main issue of the meeting was to provide the community with drinking and technical water. The head of the Novovorontsovsk settlement military administration said that there are wells on the territory of Novovorontsovka and Osokorovka, and work is also underway to restore wells, reservoirs and a water tower.
Novovorontsovskaya community has a weekly supply of drinking water, tanks with a volume of up to 10 cubic meters for storing water are already delivered to settlements.
According to operational data, the water moved away from the community by more than 300 meters. It is predicted that the distance between the coasts will decrease from 14 kilometers to about 1,300 meters. Because of this, in some parts of the Kakhovsky reservoir, buildings and infrastructure facilities flooded during the construction of the hydroelectric power plant are already visible.
In the areas of the Kakhovsky reservoir, ammunition is found, in particular even from the time of the Second World War.
A separate danger is explosive objects. Due to constant shelling by Russian troops, the water area of the reservoir is contaminated with ammunition. After the explosion of the hydroelectric power plant, shells from the Second World War are also studied. Only on June 10, explosives carried out 5 controlled detonations. Access to the coast for civilians is strictly prohibited!
The head of the Novovorontsov settlement military administration provided archival maps created before the construction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant. Based on them, experts will predict the development of the situation, in particular the natural location of river beds.
Rescuers of the Emergency Service of Ukraine received humanitarian assistance from Poland, France, Great Britain. It will help to more effectively and quickly eliminate the consequences of the Russian occupiers of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in the Kherson region.
From the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, the Center for Crisis Situations and Support, accompanied by the Embassy of the French Republic in Ukraine, the rescuers of the Kherson garrison received flexible tanks, filters and tablets for cleaning drinking water. The cargo from the UK included 11 inflatable boats with components, 1 metal boat and 7 water filters.
And on June 17, the units of the State Emergency Service in the Kherson region received four brand new all-terrain vehicles “Bogun-2", purchased with the funds of the UNITED24 fundraising platform, which was created on the initiative of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. “Thank you to everyone who donates! The machines are already working,” the Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Klymenko wrote about this on his Facebook page.
On June 22, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with Igor Klymenko on the elimination of the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant
“Eliminating the consequences of the Russian terrorist attack on the hydroelectric power plant, providing people with drinking water, fixing the damage so that people can get help. Of course, the topic of humanitarian demining. Many different details, the Ministry of Internal Affairs works systematically. The priority is to provide all the conditions for a normal life as soon as possible,” the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Talegram channel.
The results of the Russian occupiers of the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant, which caused the largest man-made disaster in Europe in recent decades.
The Russian terrorist attack led to massive flooding in the southern regions of Ukraine, as a result of which more than 4,300 houses were flooded and at least 34 people were killed.
Units of the State Emergency Service, the National Police and the National Guard were involved in the elimination of the consequences of the explosion of the dam in the first hours after the attack.
Thanks to their coordinated and coordinated work, almost 3.8 thousand people and more than 280 animals were evacuated from the affected areas. 716 people were rescued, 455 people received psychological assistance. More than 507 thousand tons of water were pumped from households in the affected areas.
Residents of flooded areas received almost 1 19 tons of food and basic necessities, more than 116 thousand tons of water.
