Mr. Chairperson, 

I thank you very much for convening this meeting of the Permanent Council.

The kremlin regime has reconfirmed once again its terrorist nature and being a threat to entire Europe.

On the night of June 6, at 2.30AM, the russian federation blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.

The reservoir contains about 18.3 cubic kilometers of water.

This is a despicable act of terrorism and ecocide.  

President Zelenskyy immediately convened the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Ukrainian law enforcement and emergency services are working hard to mitigate the consequences and save lives.

According to the Ukrhidroenergo, as a result of the detonation of the engine room from the inside, the Kakhovka HPP was completely destroyed.

The station cannot be restored. The reservoir is expected to run out within the next four days.

This terrorist act has caused Europe’s largest technological disaster in decades that poses a risk for thousands of civilians and environment in general.

Furthermore, the destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir creates a danger of an incident at another critical infrastructure facility occupied by Russia – the ZNPP.

In this case, a nuclear one. With much wider consequences.

A matter of concern is a significant reduction in the level of the reservoir used to supply cooling water to the ZNPP.

Absence of cooling water in the essential cooling water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the emergency diesel generators.

Today at the IAEA meeting Director General Grossi briefed about the situation.

According to him, “the damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam is currently leading to about 5 cm/hour reduction in the height of the reservoir”.

As Director Grossi informed, water in the reservoir was at around 16.4 m at 8 am. If drops below 12.7 m then it can no longer be pumped.

The situation is being monitored by the NPP personnel and the IAEA experts.

There is also a risk of flooding of the thermal power station in Kherson.

Furthermore, dozens of settlements on both sides of the Dnipro River are at risk.

Preliminary, 80 settlements are in the potential risk zones. This also includes a part of the city of Kherson. Therefore, the evacuation of civilians has been immediately started.

Entire houses are simply washed away by the flooding Dnipro River. Just imagine, someone’s life is just washed away. Not because of natural disaster. But due to a pre-planned and cold-bloodedly executed crime.   

This will also worsen the situation with the supply of drinking water to the population in the Southern regions, thus, leading to dire humanitarian consequences.  

This terrorist act will have devastating consequences, including irreparable damages to ecosystem. 

Animals in the Nova Kakhovka zoo have already died in the rising water. However, fauna in the south of Ukraine, along the Dnipro river, and in the Black Sea, are also endangered.

According to the preliminary assessment, about, at least, 150 tons of machine oil got into the Dnipro River.

There is a risk of further leakage of more than 300 tons.

The destruction of the dam also matters for the artificial irrigation of the region. This will have an adverse impact on food security.    

Dear colleagues, 

This attack constitutes a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions, including the Article 56 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I.

This Article provides for that “works and installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population. Other military objectives located at or in the vicinity of these works or installations shall not be made the object of attack if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces from the works or installations and consequent severe losses among the civilian population”.

Furthermore, the destruction of the dam is yet another evidence testifying to a genocidal war waged by russia against Ukraine.

According to the UN Convention, genocide means “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”.

This what was russia doing before by destroying hospitals, schools, critical infrastructure, residential building.

In addition to that, this crime also amounts to an act of ecocide.

The Office of Prosecutor General of Ukraine has already initiated a pre-trial investigation about potential ecocide under Art 441 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.

At the same time, we are grateful to all partners who have already suggested help and assistance in overcoming the consequences of the russian crime.

We call the OSCE to explore and utilize all existing possibilities to contribute to this endeavour.  

Furthermore, the technological crime of the Russian Federation confirms the high relevance of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

We call on international partners to join its implementation as soon as possible, in particular the points on countering ecocide, nuclear and energy security.

As President Zelenskyy has said earlier this day: “This is just one day of Russian aggression. This is just one Russian act of terrorism. This is just one Russian war crime. Now Russia is guilty of brutal ecocide. Any comments are superfluous. The world must react. Russia is at war against life, against nature, against civilization. Russia must leave the Ukrainian land and must be held fully accountable for its terror”. End of quote.

So, there is yet another argument for the designation of russia as a terrorist state.

There were already too many warnings about russia’s terrorist nature.

One of them was from President Zelenskyy on 20^th of October last year.

Then in his daily address, the Ukrainian President called that “all world leaders should make Russia understand that the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP will be equated to the use of weapons of mass destruction”.

Already then there was information that russia was preparing for at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. According to our information, the aggregates and dam of the Kakhovka HPP were mined by Russian terrorists.

So, it is high time for new devastating sanctions on Russia, including its missile industry and atomic energy sphere.

And the most dangerous terrorist in the world cannot be a part of respected international organizations, including of the OSCE.

This regime has morally bankrupted long ago to be trusted and talked with.

We have to do everything possible to pull russia out from all Ukraine’s territories.

I thank you, Mr. Chairperson.