Zelensky Appeals To World Over Blowing Up Kakhovka Hydropower Plant

Several things are evident by now.

On Tuesday evening, June 6, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the world amid the ecocide caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka hydropower plant by Russian invaders.

The press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine reports this.

"I appeal to everyone in the world who values life. Today the Russian occupiers have committed the greatest crime of ecocide on our Ukrainian soil, not only during this war, but for decades. The Kakhovka reservoir - one of the largest reservoirs in Ukraine - has actually been destroyed. 18 billion cubic meters of water. All the structures of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, its dam were in the occupied territory, under full control of the Russian occupants," the President stressed.

He noted that last autumn Ukraine had information that the occupants had mined the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. The Russians did it on purpose - to blackmail the world and use the flood as a weapon. Now there are areas in the flood zone where more than 100,000 people lived before the war, and now at least tens of thousands of people remain there.

"The Kakhovka reservoir provided drinking water for most of Ukraine - cities and villages with hundreds of thousands of people. Plus it provided water for farmers and agricultural production in southern and central Ukraine. Also, the destruction of the dam and the reservoir is a man-made blow to the environment, after which nature will have to recover for decades," Zelensky said.

The evacuation of people from around 80 settlements threatened by flooding continues. A slick of oil products has formed - at least 150 tonnes - which the current is carrying into the Black Sea. It is not yet known how much chemicals, fertilizers and petroleum products will reach the rivers and the sea.

"Several things are clear as of today. The first is that such an ecocidal crime could not have happened simply by shelling the dam. To destroy it, Russian forces had to act deliberately - to mine, blow it up, destroy it. Second: no country in the world should be left alone against such terror, and I am grateful to everyone who is helping Ukraine! Third: There is a need for an immediate and maximum world reaction to Russian terror. Starting from the UN Security Council to every international institution," the Ukrainian leader said.

Zelensky stressed that the deliberate destroying of the hydroelectric dam by terrorists looks the same all over the world. For Africa, for Europe, for the United States, for China, for Australia and for India, man-made disasters are evil.

"We must stop the Russian evil. All other terrorists in the world must see that terror is punished by the world," he concluded.

The Ukrainian president added: the sooner de-occupation takes place, the sooner security will return.