Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka dam was "one of their most serious crimes against the environment and people in our entire region," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 6, marking the one-year anniversary of the event.
"It was a deliberate and premeditated crime," Zelensky wrote on Facebook.
Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and the adjacent dam in Kherson Oblast exactly one year ago, on June 6, 2023, causing a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.
The floods caused by the breach killed at least 32 people in Ukrainian-held territories, according to Ukraine's Defense Ministry.
Russia, in turn, claimed that 59 people died in the territory it occupies, while an Associated Press investigation discovered that in the town of Oleshky alone, the number is at least in the hundreds.
At least tens of thousands of people were affected, and hundreds of thousands were left without access to clean drinking water, according to Zelensky.
"Large areas of Ukraine were flooded, and the Kakhovka reservoir, which supported the stability of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, was destroyed. The direct consequences of this crime were felt in neighboring countries in the Black Sea region," he added.
The president thanked those who helped save lives, provided housing, and restored the drinking water supply in the region.
Zelensky also stressed the importance of bringing Russia to justice for the destruction of the power plant and other war crimes, including deliberate attacks on civilians.
Kateryna Hodunova
