As the warring nations held each other responsible for the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, the foreign ministry of Ukraine on Tuesday requested a special meeting of the UN Security Council to consider what it called a “Russian terrorist attack.”
The overnight demolition of the property put thousands of people in grave danger from flooding.
In the hours following an explosion at the site, which is on the Dnipro river that divides Russian and Ukrainian soldiers in southern Ukraine, water swamped many areas downstream.
According to government statistics, 16,000 people reside in the most vulnerable zone in Ukrainian-held territory, while 22,000 people live in areas under Russian control that are at risk of flooding.
The authorities in both Russia and Ukraine brought in trains and buses for. No fatalities or injuries were reported by either side.
Videos shared online showed a beaver running for higher ground as the floodwater engulfed a long road.
About 150 tonnes of oil were reported to have escaped from the dam’s machinery by Ukraine’s Presidential Office, and another 300 tonnes may still be leaking.
One of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top advisors, Mykhailo Podolyak, claimed on Tuesday morning that “a global ecological disaster is playing out now, online, and thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours.”
