President's Office: At least 150 tons of motor oil released into Dnipro River after Kakhovka dam explosion.

At least 150 tons of motor oil have been released into the Dnipro River after Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka dam on June 6, the President's Office reported[1]. According to the President's Office, there is a risk of 300 additional tons of machine oil leaking into the river. President Volodymyr Zelensky convened an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine after Russian forces destroyed[2] the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam on the morning of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.

The attack occurred around 2:50 a.m. local time, the President's office wrote. No civilian or military casualties were reported as a result of the explosion, but 80 settlements are in the immediate flood zone. The Interior Ministry reported[3] that as of 11:00 a.m. local time, 885 civilians have been evacuated from Kherson Oblast.

However, some of the settlements which face the biggest risk of flooding are under Russian occupation. Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said[4] that civilians evacuated from the critical risk zones are being transported by bus and train to Mykolaiv, Khmelnytsky, Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Kyiv, and other cities. The members of the National Security and Defense Council agreed on a set of international measures following the attack, including convening a meeting of the UN Security Council and appealing to organizations such as the International Criminal Court.

Several world leaders have already publicly condemned[5] Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka dam, with many of them calling it a war crime.

Russian forces destroy Kakhovka dam, triggering humanitarian disaster The dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant across the Dnipro River, occupied by Russian forces, was destroyed on the morning of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine. Ukraine's Southern Operational Command reported early in the morning...

[6] Kate Tsurkan

News editor

Kate Tsurkan is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

She is a writer, editor, and translator. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Harpers, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. She is the co-founder of Apofenie Magazine.

Originally from the U.S., she resides in Chernivtsi, a city in the west of Ukraine.

References

  1. ^ reported (www.president.gov.ua)
  2. ^ destroyed (kyivindependent.com)
  3. ^ reported (kyivindependent.com)
  4. ^ said (kyivindependent.com)
  5. ^ condemned (kyivindependent.com)
  6. ^ Russian forces destroy Kakhovka dam, triggering humanitarian disasterThe dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant across the Dnipro River, occupied by Russian forces, was destroyed on the morning of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.

    Ukraine's Southern Operational Command reported early in the morning... (kyivindependent.com)

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