Guterres says Ukraine dam damage ‘monumental humanitarian, economic, ecological catastrophe’

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau

UNITED NATIONS, 7th June. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres pon Tuesday eexpressed his deep co0ncern over the descruction to a dam in Ukraine which he described it a monumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe” resulted directly from Russia’s invasion. 

UN office in Ukraine has reported that thousands of civilians in Ukraine are in danger on the frontline, after the apparent destruction of a huge dam on Tuesday.

It said that water from the reservoir of the Kakhovka dam is used to cool the nearby Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant Europe’s largest has been under constant threat.

UN Office in Ukraine tweeted that “thousands of people in Ukraine are in peril” after the major breach in the Soviet-era Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant, on the country’s largest river, the Dnipro, in the southeast, with video showed torrents of water cascading through.

Mr. Guterres told reporters in New York at the press stakeout that the UN had no access to independent information to verify how the catastrophe had occurred.

“But one thing is clear: this is another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, he said.

He added whose effects are being seen in dozens of towns and cities along the Dnipro River.

He said over 16,000 have lost their homes.

Guterres assured that the UN and partners were rushing support to the affected areas, including drinking water, purification tablets, “and other critical assistance.”

He said the tragedy “was yet another example of the horrific price of war on people. The floodgates of suffering have been overflowing for more than a year, and that must stop”, along with all attacks on civilians and infrastructure.

“Above all, I appeal for a just peace, in line with the UN Charter, international law, and the resolutions of the General Assembly”, he concluded.

According to news reports, Ukrainian and Russian governments blamed each other for launching an attack on the facility which is under Russian control, on the southern and eastern side of the river, while Ukrainian forces control territory the opposite bank.

Thousands of people have been reportedly evacuated, with towns downstream inundated with water, UN office in Ukraine stated.

It said that long-term, “many risk being left homeless and in desperate need, compounding the misery Ukrainians face amid Russia’s full-scale invasion”.

OHCHR said that civilians’ rights to housing, health and livelihoods, along with access to clean water and a health environment, were all at risk, called for a full investigation into the disaster, and accountability.

According to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, IAEA, the damage to the dam has already led to a “significant” reduction in the level of the reservoir that supplies the ZNPP.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned that the “absence of cooling water in the essential cooling water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the plant’s emergency diesel generators”.

IAEA said that there was no “immediate risk” to the plant’s safety, as the supply of cooling water from the reservoir “should last for a few days”, the agency’s monitors present at Zaporizhzhya is occupied by Russia but operated by Ukrainian civilians, continue to monitor closely the rate at which the reservoir level is falling.

Mr. Grossi said that a “large cooling pond” next to the ZNPP could potentially provide an alternative source of water, which Ukrainian authorities confirmed later, according to news reports.

He insisted that it was “vital” that this cooling pond remains intact.