The destruction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine marks a “dastardly and diabolical act” that “defies imagination”, the metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States said. Source: NCR Online.
On June 6, damage to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, located in Ukraine’s Kherson region, released some 18 cubic kilometres of water from the Kakhovka Reservoir, one of the world’s largest capacity reservoirs. At least 29 towns and villages along the Dnipro River have been flooded so far, with 42,000 persons at flood risk, according to Ukrainian government officials.
Over 80 settlements are in the path of the surging waters, which have swept away entire houses and structures, killing hundreds of animals, including all but a few of the 300 in residence at the Kazkova Dibrova Zoo.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said hundreds of thousands have been left without drinking water, while Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council has estimated at least 150 tons of machine oil have entered the Dnipro River, with more than 300 tons still at risk of leakage.
Investigators have documented approximately 80,000 war crimes committed by Russia since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“We’ve seen an array of war crimes. This act of terrorism supplements it,” said US-based Archbishop Borys Gudziak.
With “billions of dollars of infrastructure destroyed, it will take decades to recover,” Archbishop Gudziak said.
“Our prayers and solidarity for a just peace are ever more important,” he said. “We should have no doubt that God’s truth will prevail.”
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Ukraine dam destruction a ‘diabolical act’ in genocidal war, says archbishop, Ukrainian Catholics (By Gina Christian, OSV News via NCR Online)
