The Destruction Of Hydroelectric Dam Is ‘Ecocide’

The Ukrainian City of Kherson is reminiscent of some of the nicest waterfront towns in America — at least before the war. But now Ukrainian officials are accusing Russia of blasting the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, which holds water equal to the Great Salt Lake.

During a news conference on Thursday, President Zelensky called the attack “ecocide.”

“This is not a natural disaster, not a manifestation of the climate crisis,” the president told reporters via a Zoom call. “This is a disaster of Putin. What he does. What he personally orders to do.”

Russia denies the attacks, saying the dam also supplies water and electricity to areas that it had previously annexed and to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which the International Atomic Energy Agency said is not immediately threatened. The dam is located in a part of the city that Russia controls.

Nato also accused Russia of blowing up the dam, resulting in the evacuation of thousands. Environmentally, it is a disaster — contaminated with tons of industrial lubricants. Meanwhile, warehouses with chemicals and fertilizers have been flooded while sewage is spilling into the city. Nearby farmland is also destroyed.

“The situation is extremely difficult,” said Zelensky, at the conference. “Russian troops did not stop artillery strikes at the very territory where people are being evacuated. The Russian crime of ecocide is the largest in Europe in decades.

“People have been staying on rooftops, trapped in water for two days, without drinking water, without food or medical care,” he continued. “We do not know the number of dead and injured yet.”

He said that in more than 30 settlements in the city, “life is ruined.” The president was calm but angry, saying more than 50,000 hectares of forest have been flooded while thousands of birds and wild animals are at risk of death. To top if off, Russian troops are shelling the evacuation routes.

“Pollution and poison from the flooded area quickly get into groundwater poisons the rivers, and from there it enters the Black Sea basin” that connects to all parts of the world, meaning no place is safe from this attack.

Alex Riabychyn, former deputy minister to Ukraine’s Energy and Environment Agency, told this writer that the West should use its powers to “confiscate” Russian assets and use them to help repair his country.

Mary Robinson, a human rights activist and a High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations told reporters on the Zoom call that is a “first of its kind war — a dam deliberately burst open.” If the Russians did it, “I hope the European Parliament recognizes the crime of ecocide — and the impact on sustainable development and the planet.”