Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has mentioned that Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s vitality infrastructure are aimed toward creating a brand new wave of refugees.
Speaking to the European Council in a video deal with, Zelensky mentioned after failing to make use of vitality assets as a weapon towards Europe, “the current Russian leadership has ordered to turn the energy system itself into a battlefield. The consequences of this are very dangerous, again for all of us in Europe.”
“Attacks by Russian cruise missiles and Iranian attack drones have destroyed more than a third of our energy infrastructure,” he mentioned. “Because of this, unfortunately, we can no longer export electricity to help you maintain stability.”
Days of devastating Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have precipitated the nation to lose at the least 40% of its power-generating capability. Ukrainian officers warned earlier this week that each emergency and scheduled blackouts would observe.
Zelensky added: “Russia is also provoking a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to the EU countries. Russia’s terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems with electricity and heat in Ukraine as possible this autumn and winter and making as many Ukrainians as possible leave for your countries.”
Critical dam mined: Zelensky additionally claimed that Russia was creating grounds for a large-scale disaster within the south of Ukraine, with Russian forces mining a vital dam on the Dnipro river within the southern Kherson area, as properly as the adjoining hydroelectric plant.
“We have information that Russian terrorists have mined the dam and units of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant,” Zelensky advised the Council of Europe throughout a video deal with.
“The dam of this hydroelectric energy plant holds about 18 million cubic meters of water.
“If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, greater than 80 settlements, together with Kherson, shall be within the zone of fast flooding. Hundreds of 1000’s of individuals might endure. Water provide to a big a part of southern Ukraine could possibly be destroyed. This Russian terrorist assault may depart Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant with out water for cooling – water for ZNPP is taken from the Kakhovka reservoir. “
CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for a response to the allegations.
The dam and hydroelectric plant have been working at much-reduced capability as the world was captured by Russian forces in March. Ukrainian forces are some 40 kilometers (greater than 24 miles) north of the dam. Over the previous 4 months, they’ve launched a number of strikes towards the bridge that types a part of the dam to stop its use by the Russian army.
Separately, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the pinnacle of the Ukrainian President’s workplace, mentioned on Twitter Thursday that Russia deliberate to mine the dam and transformers, forcing the deportation of Ukrainian civilians from Kherson and flooding territory to cease the Ukrainian counteroffensive within the area. The land to the south and east of the river is low-lying.
“Russia is preparing a man-made catastrophe,” Podolyak mentioned.
What pro-Moscow officers are saying: The Russian-appointed head of the Nova Kakhovka administrative district, Vladimir Leontiev, advised Russian state media TASS that it is senseless for Russia to destroy the dam of the facility station.
“What is the point for Russia to destroy it now? Even from a formal point of view, this is nonsense. This is absolute nonsense,” Leontiev mentioned.
“First of all, you need to think about who benefits from it: it is only beneficial for Ukraine to destroy the dam, the hydroelectric power station, to disrupt logistics, to sow fear and panic, to stop the possibility of supplying water through the North Crimean Canal to the territory of Crimea,” he mentioned, in accordance with TASS.
