Undermining the dam at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station led to a man-made disaster and an emergency environmental situation, which causes destruction with deep and irreversible changes in nature and environmental losses.
This, among other things, created a threat of deterioration in the state of environmental safety and the sanitary and epidemiological situation, the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management said in a statement.
It is noted that the explosion led to a sharp deterioration in living conditions – houses and bridges were destroyed, and a number of railway and road routes were blurred.
The statement stressed that the flooding caused significant damage to the reservoirs of Ukraine. After all, the flow of water carries a lot of suspended particles, which increases turbidity and makes it difficult for fish to breathe.
"Washing away agrochemicals, biological wastes, oil products from the soil surface and getting them into the sea will lead to a catastrophe," the people's deputies said.
They stressed that the dead animals, including those from the Fairy Oak Forest Zoo, may be in the Dnieper River, tributaries and the Black Sea for some time. This will create an additional extremely toxic source of pollution. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly monitor the concentrations of pollutants in water bodies, access to which is limited by the occupiers.
It is noted that significant damage is caused to the territories and objects of the natural reserve fund and the Emerald Network, as well as to wetlands. So, as of 15:00, the territory of the national natural park Nizhnedneprovsky is already flooded, and in the water bodies of the territories of the national parks Kamenska Sich and Veliky Lug the water level is rapidly falling.
The statement noted that damage to sewage treatment plants, animal burial grounds, landfills and storage facilities for epidemiologically hazardous waste could lead to outbreaks of mass infectious diseases. In addition, the deterioration of living conditions, disruption of the functioning of public utilities will also lead to their emergence and further spread.
People's deputies added that this war crime of the Russians would cause enormous damage to forestry, water and agriculture. In case of many days of flooding, young forest and agricultural plantations will disappear, farm animals may die and be injured.
“We call on all governments, parliaments and environmental organizations of the world to immediately respond to these criminal destructive actions of the aggressor state. We demand full accountability for terrorists in international courts,” they stressed.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the prosecutor's office of the Kherson region began a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings on the facts of ecocide and violation of the laws and customs of war due to the explosion of a dam at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, according to OSINT researchers, the environmental and economic consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP can be equated with the consequences of use tactical nuclear weapons 5-10 kilotons.
