15:45 06.06.2023

Destruction of Kakhovka HPP by invaders can be equated to use of weapons of mass destruction – Yermak

2 min read
Destruction of Kakhovka HPP by invaders can be equated to use of weapons of mass destruction – Yermak

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, declares the serious environmental consequences of the undermining by the Russian occupiers of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in Kherson region and points out that such actions can be equated to the use of weapons of mass destruction.

"As a result of the aggression and the undermining of the Kakhovka HPP, the regional biological system of the southern delta of the Dnipro River, as well as the Black Sea region, was damaged or completely destroyed. Russia has destroyed the irrigation system in the south of Ukraine and the water supply infrastructure of the occupied Crimea. The undermining of the Kakhovka HPP led to the creation of prerequisites for the imbalance of the cooling system of the Zaporizhia NPP. This is a nuclear threat to the whole world," Yermak wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.

"According to the Geneva Convention (Article 56 of Additional Protocol I of 1977), actions to destroy dams are a war crime and can be equated to the use of weapons of mass destruction," the head of the President’s Office of Ukraine added.

According to him, Ukraine strives for the most rigid and unified international position on these and other crimes of the Russian Federation. "This will protect us from the use of nuclear weapons by the Kremlin. Otherwise, the threat of a nuclear catastrophe, including at the NPP, will increase significantly, because the Kremlin's impunity will increase," Yermak said.

He also pointed out the need to accelerate the implementation of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in particular, steps on radiation and nuclear safety, food security and prevention of ecocide.

"What other red lines should Russia violate in order for the international community to respond decisively? We can stop the enemy only by force," Yermak summed up.

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