Russia-Ukraine war | Landmines probably floating in flood water, warns NGO

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held a telephonic conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in July.

“By all accounts, it makes sense for Allies to take a decisive step toward Ukraine’s membership. We are not seeking NATO troops on the ground to end this war. We are seeking the best guarantee to avert future wars,” Kuleba tweeted after the call.

Officials in Ukrainian-controlled Kherson stated that evacuations are ongoing in flooded areas after the Nova Kakhovka dam's collapse.

Head of the Kherson region military administration Oleksandr Prokudin said, “We expect that the water will stay and accumulate for another day and then will gradually decrease for another 5 days.”

Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko, who visited Kherson, said: "The evacuation works are ongoing. We are trying to do it as quickly as possible. We are hampered by a strong current and shelling by the Russian military."

"The headquarters will work around the clock as long as necessary,” he stated, further adding “at the same time, we are working on the tasks we will face when the water goes away.”

“There is a lot of work to be done. First of all, it will concern environmental pollution. 150 tons of machine oil leaked out of the turbine room when the hydroelectric power plant was blown up," Klymenko added.

Russia's Ministry of Defense, in a statement, held Ukraine guilty of blowing up an ammonia pipeline in the Kharkiv region.

“On June 5, at about 21.00 Moscow time, in the area of ​​the village of Masiutivka, Kharkiv region, a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group undermined the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

”As a result of this terrorist act, there are victims among the civilian population. They received the necessary medical care,” the statement read. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that Russian shelling had caused the damage. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration, wrote on Telegram, "Yesterday at about 17:45 the enemy shelled the ammonia pipeline in Kupyansk district again. A total of 6 incomings were recorded in the area of the pumping station near the village of Masiutivka. As of now, the results of the measurements show that there is no ammonia in the air in the settlements of Kupyansk district."

International humanitarian organisation CARE warned that landmines are probably floating in the flood which has been unleashed Nova Kakhovka dam's collapse in the southern Kherson region.

“The area where the Kakhovka dam was is full of landmines, which are now floating in the water and are posing a huge risk,” said Country Director at CARE Ukraine Fabrice Martin in a statement.

Martin further noted the environment could face “the catastrophic consequences” the dam breach.

“At least 150 tonnes of oil have been released into the Dnipro River with the risk of further leakage of more than 300 tonnes. This may lead to the Nyzhniodniprovskyi National Nature Park to disappear, which is more than 80,000 hectares of protected land," Martin said. 

Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said with Nova Kakhovka dam's collapse “the Russians have actually done more damage to themselves and their armed forces.”

Speaking on national TV, Mailar stated, “Basically, the territory that is now under the control of the aggressor will be more affected.”

“The territories of their military units are also flooded. And there is a problem with mines there now, because mines have floated away. The situation is absolutely uncontrollable now,” the minister added.

“Yesterday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that their actions and plans would not be affected,” she further stated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called the attack on the Russian-occupied Kakhovka dam, which Moscow condemned Ukraine for, a "barbaric act", in his first public reaction to the situation.

Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call that the breach was "a barbaric act which has led to a large-scale environmental and humanitarian catastrophe", the Kremlin said in a statement.

No counteroffensive has been launched yet, said a top security official from Ukraine. Asserting that Kyiv will rebound and take back the territories occupied by Russia, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council said everyone wil know when Kyiv will make progress. 

“All of this is not true. When all this will begin, it will be decided by our military,” Danilov told Reuters in an interview. “When we start the counteroffensive, everyone will know about it, they will see it.”

After the destruction of a massive Ukraine dam, large parts of the Kakhovka were flooded with water. Following the incident, thousands of people are fleeing their homes on Wednesday. Helping the civilians were Ukraine police officials in Kherson who aided in the rescue operations. 
 

Germany is preparing to host the biggest air deployment exercise in Nato’s history – a show of force intended to impress allies and potential adversaries such as Russia, officials said.

The Air Defender 23 exercise starting next week will see 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations respond to a simulated attack on a Nato member country.

The United States alone is sending 2,000 US Air National Guard personnel and about 100 aircraft to take part in the June 12-23 training manoeuvres, AP reported.

US ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann said:

This is an exercise that would be absolutely impressive to anybody who’s watching, and we don’t make anybody watch it.

It will demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt the agility and the swiftness of our allied force in Nato as a first responder.

I would be pretty surprised if any world leader was not taking note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, which means the strength of this alliance. And that includes Mr Putin.

While the drill has been planned for several years, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has jolted Nato into preparing in earnest for the possibility of an attack on its territory.

The British Ministry of Defence in its update posted on Twitter said that the dam partially failed shortly before 03 00 local time on Tuesday and the entire eastern portion of the structure was swept away by midday.

It also says the water level in the Kakhovka reservoir was at a record high shortly before the breach, which led to a "particularly high volume of water inundating the area downstream".

But the MoD also says the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is "highly unlikely" to face immediate safety issues over the dropping water levels in the reservoir.

Maciej Matysiak, a security expert at the Stratpoints Foundation said on Tuesday that the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam helps Russian defence against Ukraine's counteroffensive. 

Speaking to the news agency Reuters, Matysiak said, "But at the same time, it covers for Ukrainians' safety, on this flank because during (the) expected offensive of (the) Ukrainian army, Russians won't be able to operate on this direction."

A state of emergency has been imposed in Russian-controlled parts of Kherson following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam and the flooding of large area. Ukrainian officials said that some 80 communities in the overall Kherson region were at risk of flooding.

Around 42,000 people are at risk from flooding in Russian- and Ukrainian-controlled areas along the Dnipro River after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed. 

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that the dam breach "will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine on both sides of the front line through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods".

An often ignored part of any calamity, natural or man-made is the damage it does to the areas animal population. The breach at the Kakhovka dam and the resulting flooding has affected the fauna of the affected areas. Amid this, heartwarming images and videos of people rescuing the voiceless creatures have emerged. Take a look:

Satellite images captured on Tuesday reveal extensive flooding in southern Ukraine, specifically in the region where the Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric station are located. The images from Maxar Technologies depict over 2,500 square km of flooded area between Nova Kakhovka and the Dniprovska Gulf southwest of Kherson city on the Black Sea. The photos show numerous towns and villages submerged, with only roofs visible on many buildings. The floodwaters have also engulfed parks, land, and infrastructure in the affected region.

"The Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant has been largely destroyed and few structures remain," Maxar said in a statement.

In a tweet, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense blamed Russia for the partial destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam and said that the flooding from the reservoir's destruction killed 300 animals in the Nova Kakhovka zoo. 

Labelling this "ecocide," the Ukrainian ministry said "The Russians want to destroy anything that is alive."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who since the start of Russia's invasion has condemned Moscow for violating the UN charter, said attacks against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure "must stop." As per the UN chief, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are "rushing support" to those affected by the breach of the Kakhovka Dam.

"We have all seen the tragic images coming out today of the monumental humanitarian, economic and ecological catastrophe in the Kherson region of Ukraine."

"The United Nations and humanitarian partners are rushing support in coordination with the government of Ukraine -- including drinking water and water purification tablets and other critical assistance," he added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the partial destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine is another distressing outcome of Russia's invasion of its neighboring country. Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, Guterres described the incident as a tragic consequence of war, highlighting the immense toll it takes on people's lives.

"Today's tragedy is yet another example of the horrific price of war on people" he said adding "The floodgates of suffering have been overflowing for more than a year. That must stop."

Guterres said that the UN "has no access to independent information on the circumstances that led to the destruction" of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

"But one thing is clear," he added. "This is another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

According to Ostap Semerak, Ukraine's former minister of ecology, the breach of the dam poses the greatest current threat, but there are additional dangers that could arise in the coming days and weeks as floodwaters engulf various areas. He said that cities, petrol stations, and farms are at risk of being inundated, which could lead to contamination from agrochemicals and oil products. Eventually, these pollutants may flow into the Black Sea, causing further environmental concerns.

"This will have an impact on Romania, Georgia, Turkey and Bulgaria. It will be harmful for all the region," said the former minister. 

"Our government has announced this is the biggest environmental catastrophe in Europe over the past 10 years, and I think it may be the worst in Ukraine since Chornobyl in 1986," he added.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has announced through a tweet that its experts stationed at Zaporizhzhia, located 100 miles (160km) upstream from the collapsed dam, are closely observing the unfolding situation. They have stated that, at present, there is "no immediate nuclear safety risk" at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. 

As per a report by the Guardian, cooling pools at the plant are currently filled.

However, the situation could evolve in the future if the reservoir behind the dam experiences significant depletion. In such a scenario, it would become challenging to replenish the cooling system and operate the diesel generators. This would potentially pose a risk to the nuclear power plant's safety.

Following the collapse of a dam along the Dnipro River, approximately 42,000 individuals in Russian and Ukrainian controlled areas are now at risk of flooding. The United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths has issued a warning, highlighting the "grave and far-reaching consequences" of this event.

Addressing the Security Council, he expressed concerns about the severe implications resulting from the breach of the dam. He said that it "will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine on both sides of the front line through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods."

Both Ukraine and Russia are blaming each other for the dam collapse. Ukraine has accused Russia of deliberately committing a war crime by destroying the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam, which was responsible for powering a hydroelectric station. On the other hand, the Kremlin has pointed fingers at Ukraine, claiming that it is attempting to divert attention from Kyiv's high-stakes counteroffensive, which Moscow asserts is faltering.

The dam, which is 30 metres tall and 3.2 kilometres (around two miles) long, was built in 1956 on the Dnipro River. It holds significant amounts of water — as per Reuters, it holds water equivalent to the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah.

The Nova Kakhovka Dam supplies water to Crimea, and to Europe's largest nuclear plant, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.