‘The destruction of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam is an abhorrent act – and a war crime’ – Cleverly
James Cleverly said that damage to a dam in Ukraine, which Russia is accused of carrying out, is a “catastrophe” and an “abhorrent act”.
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine
“The destruction of Kakhovka dam is an abhorrent act,” the Foreign Secretary said.
“Intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime.
“The UK stands ready to support Ukraine and those affected by this catastrophe.”
Meanwhile a top Ukrainian diplomat called Russia a “terrorist state” as he opened his country’s case against Moscow at the United Nations’ highest court and accused the country of blowing up a major dam in southern Ukraine.
Anton Korynevych was addressing judges at the International Court of Justice on Tuesday in a case brought by Kyiv linked to the 2014 annexation of Crimea and arming of rebels in eastern Ukraine in the years before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Officials have described the breach as an “ecological disaster”.
Ukrainian authorities have ordered hundreds of thousands of residents downriver to evacuate.
Russian officials claim the dam, on the Dnipro river, was damaged by Ukrainian military strikes in the contested area.
The fallout could have broad consequences: flooded homes, streets and businesses downstream; depleted water levels upstream that help cool Europe’s largest nuclear power station; and drained supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed.
The dam break adds a new complex to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its 16th month, as Ukrainian forces were widely seen to be moving forward with a long-anticipated counteroffensive in patches along more than 620 miles of frontline in the east and south of Ukraine.
Press Association – Susie Blann, Mike Corder/Associated Press