Maxar satellite imagery BEFORE the damage to the Nova Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine. Please use: Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies.
Maxar Technologies | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — A world team of investigators said in a latest report Thursday that it’s “highly likely Russian forces deliberately destroyed” the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.
“We discover there’s a high probability the collapse of the dam was brought on by pre-emplaced explosives positioned at critical points inside its structure,” explained Catriona Murdoch, a lawyer and expert in starvation-related crimes.
Murdoch, who was a part of one in every of the primary delegations to reach at the location, added the attack on the dam may constitute a war crime.
“Dams might not be attacked when the discharge of water would result in severe losses among the many civilian population. Even valid military objectives situated on or near dams can’t be attacked if the impact would knowingly cause severe losses among the many civilian population,” Murdoch said.
Each Russia and Ukraine have placed the blame squarely on one another for the explosion on the dam.
The predawn attack on the Russian-held dam unleashed the worst ecological disaster in Ukraine’s history because the 1986 meltdown of Chornobyl. Greater than 80 settlements within the Kherson region flooded, and at the very least 27 people have died, in line with Ukraine Interior Minister Igor Klymenko.
Yousuf Syed Khan, a senior lawyer at Global Rights Compliance who worked on the investigation, said the destruction of the dam created “a horrific starvation crime” within the Kherson region.
“The reverberating effects of this attack are little doubt immense, far-reaching, and multigenerational, as entire industries and livelihoods related to agribusiness have been severely affected,” Khan said.
The team of investigators, made up of lawyers, military experts and researchers, said Russian forces also targeted flooding evacuation points and restricted residents from leaving areas with rising waters.
The report was issued by the Mobile Justice Team, one component of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, which is funded by the U.S. State Department, European Union and the U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
