PRESS RELEASE : The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam – UK statement to OSCE committee [June 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 19 June 2023.
Justin Addison (UK Delegation to the OSCE) tells the OSCE’s Economic and Environmental Committee that intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime.
The UK Delegation would like to thank the Austrian Chair of the Economic and Environmental Committee for convening a special meeting on the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
The dam was the region’s main hydroelectric infrastructure and provided cities, towns, and villages across Southern Ukraine with much of their water supply. The loss of this water supply, as well as the direct impact of widespread flooding, will result in environmental, economic, humanitarian and development consequences that will be felt well into the future.
The extent of damage to the environment will likely take two years to fully understand. But we know that significant contaminants have been released into the water and may spread into soil, rivers, and the Black Sea. The affected region may also revert to desertification without the benefit of irrigation.
The UK has commissioned a team of experts at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Hydraulics Research Station Wallingford to conduct a rapid environmental impact assessment into the scale and nature of impacts, using available data. This will help future, more detailed environmental assessments and eventually the area’s reconstruction.
The destruction of the dam is a major catastrophe, and we would not be in this position if it was not for Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine. As my Foreign Secretary said recently, intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime. Those responsible for such acts must be held accountable.
On Thursday an emergency convoy of lorries carrying donated flood equipment, including pumps and temporary barriers, left the UK for Ukraine. Equipment donated by the UK’s Environment Agency will offer a significant capability to pump water out of flooded areas and protect from further flooding.
Mr Chair, providing assistance is well within the OSCE’s mandate and responsibility, and we thank the organisation for its continued support to Ukraine on this issue.
