![]() ![]() United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Tuesday the dam collapse was an “ecological catastrophe” with the destruction of newly planted crops and massive flooding “another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” ![]() The flooding has already killed 300 animals at the Nova Kakhovka zoo, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Ukraine’s Black Sea Biosphere Reserve and two national parks were also likely to be heavily damaged, he added, Reuters reported. Strilets said downstream wildlife species found nowhere else in the world were in jeopardy, including the sandy blind mole-rat. Gas stations and sewage treatment plants along the river also pose an additional risk of water pollution, Zasiadko said. “Oil spreads over the surface in a thin layer that stops oxygen from getting to the plants and animals that live in the water,” she said.Īs the Dnipro River flows to the Black Sea, some of the oil will end in the ocean where it “will affect the marine ecosystem,” she told CNN. ![]() So 150 tons will have numerous impacts on Ukrainian water resources and the environment,” said Yevheniia Zasiadko, Head of Climate Department at Kyiv-based environmental non-profit Ecoaction. “Just 1 litre of oil can contaminate 1 million liters of water. One environmental expert warned of the potential damage that the oil spill could cause. Ukrainian Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets said at least 150 metric tons of oil from the dam have leaked into the Dnipro and the environmental damage had been estimated at 50 million euros ($53.8 million), according to Reuters. Olena stands next to the entrance to her house on a flooded street, after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 6. Homes and infrastructure have been destroyed, land has become unsuitable for agriculture, and water supply has been disrupted in a number of regions, both in the government-controlled areas and in the territories temporarily occupied by Russia,” the readout added.Ĭoncerns are now turning to the dangers to wildlife, farmlands, settlements and water supplies from the floodwaters and possible contamination from industrial chemicals and oil leaked from the hydropower plant into the Dnipro River. More than 40,000 people have been affected. It has caused severe long-term damage to people and the environment,” Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said in a meeting Wednesday, according to a readout from his office. “Ukraine has initiated proceedings over this crime, qualifying it as a violation of the laws and customs of war and ecocide. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Wednesday that it is investigating the incident as a war crime and as possible “ecocide,” or criminal environmental destruction. When the water goes away, it will become clear what is left and what will happen next,” he said. “The consequences of the tragedy will be clear in a week. Zelensky, however, said Russia bears “criminal liability” and Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating the dam incident as a case of “ecocide.” It is not yet clear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or whether the breach was the result of structural failure. Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations over the dam’s destruction, without providing concrete proof that the other is culpable. ![]() Water levels on Wednesday continued to rise after the Russian-occupied dam and hydro-electric power plant was destroyed early Tuesday, forcing more than 1,400 people to flee their homes and threatening vital water supplies as flooding inundated towns, cities and farmland. The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine has sparked fears of an ecological catastrophe, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the situation as “an environmental bomb of mass destruction.” ![]()
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