“First. The root cause of most global crimes is fear. In this case, it is fear of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their future offensive. When the occupiers destroy the infrastructure supporting the south of Ukraine, it means that they realize that there is no alternative to freeing this territory from their occupation and want to leave behind a devastated land with an environmental disaster. Outright crimes will not stop the Armed Forces of Ukraine from de-occupying Ukrainian territory, but they cause terrible harm to people and their well-being, as well as to all living things.

Second. The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is a disaster not only for the Kherson region, it is a problem for the entire south of Ukraine, including Crimea. The devastation of the Kakhovka reservoir will have the greatest impact on the supply of drinking water and the system of irrigation canals in general. The North Crimean and Kakhovka canals will be left without access to water and will not be able to be filled until the Kakhovka HPP is restored.

This means that the left bank of the Kherson region, part of the Zaporizhzhia region, and Crimea will be left without Dnipro water. The region will face a food crisis and impoverishment of the population engaged in agriculture and businesses dependent on water supplies. As usual, Russia does not think about people and consequences.

The Kherson region is a predominantly agricultural region, where the cultivation of grain and other crops is the basis of the economic well-being of the inhabitants. Now the livelihood of many is under threat. The occupiers do not care about the region or the local residents.

The flooding will mostly affect the left bank of the Kherson region, the territory that the occupiers themselves controlled, which they “considered their own,” and which they themselves took and left without prospects and with the threat of environmental disaster. This is how they protect and care for the residents of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and this is how they care for the residents of Crimea.

During the entire period of temporary occupation of Crimea, the Russians and their occupation administrations accused Ukraine of ecocide, even wanted to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court about Ukraine’s failure to supply water to Crimea, and now they have so easily abandoned this water, simply destroying everything around them.

Will they now remember 2021, or what the shortage of water from the North Crimean Canal in 2018 led to in Armyansk, when chemicals were released from the acid storage tank of the Crimean Titan plant. Summer and significant evaporation are ahead. We have no choice but to vacate our land, otherwise nothing guarantees safety.

Third. Zaporizhzhia NPP is another threat. The fullness of the nuclear power plant’s cooling ponds depends on the water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir, which is necessary for the plant to receive water for turbine capacitors and safety systems. Currently, the plant’s cooling pond is sufficiently filled to ensure its safe operation. The situation at ZNPP is currently under control, with Ukrainian personnel monitoring all indicators. However, the threat of man-made accidents at ZNPP has now increased significantly. In the event of any unforeseen situations at ZNPP, southern Ukraine, including Crimea, will again be at risk.

Fourth. Flooding of settlements and agricultural land will inevitably lead to the ingress of oil products and agricultural chemicals into the water. All of this water will be carried to the Black Sea by the Dnipro riverbed. Swimming in the sea in the near future off the coast of Mykolaiv, Kherson regions and the western coast of Crimea is undesirable and may pose a threat to the health of citizens, and at the same time lead to poisoning of the ecosystem and irreparable consequences.

The occupiers will have to pay for everything they are destroying. Including for this crime of the Putin regime. For decades, Russia will be paying reparations for everything destroyed and damaged in this war.”

Photo: The Most publication.