Ukraine Demands Russia Pay Billions in Reparations for Dam Destruction
Kyiv is demanding that Russia pay billions of dollars in reparations for the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.
The destruction of the critical Soviet-era dam in southern Ukraine on the Dnieper River, is "absolutely awful," Oleg Ustenko, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Newsweek.
Ukraine and NATO have accused Russia of being behind the dam's destruction. Zelensky accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station from inside the facility as part of a "terrorist attack." Russia has blamed Ukraine for the damage, saying it was done to distract attention from a "faltering" counteroffensive.
"This is a very clear terrorist attack by the Russians which will have many negative effects: the environment will suffer, people will lose their homes and our energy infrastructure will suffer," said Ustenko.
The overall price tag of the dam's destruction is "billions of dollars," he said.
"Russia has to be stopped with all possible means including heavy sanctions. Ukraine must also be compensated for all the damage caused by Russia—down to the very last penny," Ustenko said.
Zelensky has described the situation as "an environmental bomb of mass destruction" that has left hundreds of thousands of people without normal access to drinking water. Thousands have been ordered to evacuate from the partially occupied Kherson region amid rising water levels.
Ukraine's agriculture ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the dam's collapse will cause the flooding of tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land in southern Ukraine, cutting off the supply of water to 31 irrigation systems in Ukraine's Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro regions.
"The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station will lead to the fact that fields in the south of Ukraine may turn into deserts next year," the agriculture ministry said. "Several times more [land will be under water] on the left bank of the region, which is currently under occupation."
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, said the dam's collapse shows Putin is willing to sacrifice the lives of both Ukrainian and Russian civilians.
"First of all, this is a signal that Russia uses 'scorched Earth' tactics. Russian authorities are not able to calculate the consequences of their actions, but they most definitely do not care about the life and future well-being of their civilians," Gerashchenko told Newsweek.
"Not just Ukrainians, their own population, too. So the aftereffects of the catastrophe for Crimea are yet another confirmation that the Kremlin doesn't care for people at all, and they are ready to sacrifice anyone."
Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating the dam's collapse as a case of "ecocide" for which Russia bears "criminal liability," Zelensky has said.
"The consequences of the tragedy will be clear in a week. When the water goes away, it will become clear what is left and what will happen next," he said.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
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