European Commission on Kakhovka dam disaster: Russia bears 'primary responsibility' as it invaded Ukraine.

Russia bears "primary responsibility" for the Kakhovka dam destruction in Kherson Oblast as it had started the war in the first place, European Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant said[1] on June 9. "Russia is there, bombing and shelling, and Ukraine is defending itself, so Russia has primary responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine... and this is the first statement you have to keep in mind when looking into this incident and anything else," Spinant told a press conference. The official said that the European Commission condemned Russia's continued attacks in any form and place on Ukrainian territory.

"We will do whatever we can to support the people impacted (by the Kakhovka dam breach)," Spinant added. A day before, the White House made a similar statemen[2]t, saying that while it was still assessing who destroyed the dam, Russia was ultimately to blame because it controlled the Kakhovka plant. The dam of the Russian-occupied Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Dnipro River was destroyed on June 6, sparking a humanitarian and environmental disaster[3] across southern Ukraine.

According to Ukraine's Southern Command, the dam was blown up[4] by Russian forces. On the same day, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced[5] that the bloc would help Ukraine with the aftermath of the Kakhovka dam destruction, which caused large-scale flooding in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts.

'They are destroying us.' People plea to escape flooded Russian-occupied areas Editor's note: For this story, we spoke to people living or having family in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

For their safety, they are identified by first name only. After destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam and stranding thousands of Ukrainians in the catastrophic flood zone, Russians prevent...

News editor

Dinara Khalilova is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She has previously worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News.

Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master's degree in media and communication from Bournemouth University in the UK.

References

1. ^ said (audiovisual.ec.europa.eu)
2. ^ made a similar statemen (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ a humanitarian and environmental disaster (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ blown up (m.facebook.com)
5. ^ announced (kyivindependent.com)
6. ^ 'They are destroying us.' People plea to escape flooded Russian-occupied areasEditor's note: For this story, we spoke to people living or having family in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

   For their safety, they are identified by first name only.

   After destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam and stranding thousands of Ukrainians in the catastrophic flood zone, Russians prevent... (kyivindependent.com)