{"id":5675,"date":"2023-06-07T10:32:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T05:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/?p=5675"},"modified":"2023-06-07T10:32:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T05:32:12","slug":"un-chief-says-ukraine-dam-burst-a-consequence-of-russias-invasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/world\/un-chief-says-ukraine-dam-burst-a-consequence-of-russias-invasion\/","title":{"rendered":"UN chief says Ukraine dam burst ‘a consequence of Russia\u2019s invasion’"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNITED NATIONS: Tens of thousands of civilians in Ukraine are in danger after the destruction of a huge dam Tuesday, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as a \u201cmonumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe\u201d resulting directly from \u201cRussia\u2019s invasion of the country\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water from the reservoir of the Kakhovka dam is also used to cool the nearby Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Europe\u2019s largest, which has been under constant threat since being occupied by Russian forces early in the conflict, according to the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Office in Ukraine tweeted that \u201cthousands of people in Ukraine are in peril\u201d following the major breach in the Soviet-era Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant, on the country\u2019s largest river, the Dnipro, in the southeast, with a video showing torrents of water cascading through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, UN chief told reporters in New York outside the Security Council that the UN had no access to independent information to verify how the catastrophe had occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut one thing is clear: this is another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine\u201d, he alleged, whose effects are being seen in dozens of towns and cities along the Dnipro River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 16,000 have already lost their homes he said, assuring that the UN and partners were rushing support to the affected areas, including drinking water, purification tablets, \u201cand other critical assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the tragedy \u201cwas 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\u201d, along with all attacks on civilians and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbove all, I appeal for a just peace, in line with the UN Charter, international law, and the resolutions of the General Assembly\u201d, he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ukrainian and Russian governments blamed each other for launching an attack on the facility \u2013 according to news reports \u2013 which is under Russian control, on the southern and eastern side of the river, while Ukrainian forces control territory along the opposite bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of people have already been reportedly evacuated, with towns downstream inundated with water, the UN said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-term, \u201cmany risk being left homeless and in desperate need, compounding the misery Ukrainians face amid Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion\u201d, said the UN Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, said that civilians\u2019 rights to housing, health and livelihoods, along with access to clean water and a health environment, were all at risk, calling for a full investigation into the disaster, and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the UN\u2019s nuclear watchdog, IAEA, the damage to the dam has already led to a \u201csignificant\u201d reduction in the level of the reservoir that supplies the ZNPP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned that the \u201cabsence of cooling water in the essential cooling water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the plant\u2019s emergency diesel generators\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there was no \u201cimmediate risk\u201d to the plant\u2019s safety, as the supply of cooling water from the reservoir \u201cshould last for a few days\u201d, the agency\u2019s monitors present at Zaporizhzhya, which is occupied by Russia but operated by Ukrainian civilians, continue to monitor closely the rate at which the reservoir level is falling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grossi also said that a \u201clarge cooling pond\u201d next to the ZNPP could potentially provide an alternative source of water, which Ukrainian authorities confirmed later, according to news reports. But he insisted that it was \u201cvital\u201d that this cooling pond remains intact.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNITED NATIONS: Tens of thousands of civilians in Ukraine are in danger after the destruction of a huge dam Tuesday, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as a \u201cmonumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe\u201d resulting directly from \u201cRussia\u2019s invasion of the country\u201d. Water from the reservoir of the Kakhovka dam is also used to cool […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,73,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-security","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5675"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}