Kakhovka dam: Swiss warn of serious long-term consequences

Residents carry their belongings as they evacuate from a flooded neighbourhood in Kherson, Ukraine, on Tuesday Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

A state of emergency has been imposed in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam and widescale flooding, Russia’s TASS state news agency reported on Wednesday.

Speaking at a hastily convened meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday,  Switzerland’s ambassador said the priority was to protect the civilian population but warned of risks to the environment, as well as to energy and food security.

“Systematic military attacks on civilian infrastructure are unacceptable and constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” the Swiss foreign ministry tweeted. They must be stopped immediately, it said.

About 42,000 people are at risk from flooding in Russian- and Ukrainian-controlled areas along the Dnipro River after a dam collapsed on Tuesday.

Ukrainian and Russian officials blamed each other for the breach of the Russian-controlled dam, which prompted the evacuation of people living nearby.

“We consider the Russian Federation’s detonation of the dam […] a terrorist act against Ukrainian critical infrastructure, which aims to cause as many civilian casualties and [as much] destruction as possible,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

No deaths were initially reported, but US spokesperson John Kirby said the flooding had probably caused “many deaths”.

In Kherson city, about 60km downstream from the dam, water levels rose by 3.5 metres on Tuesday, forcing residents to slog through water up to their knees to evacuate, carrying plastic bags full of possessions and small pets in carriers.

Long-term consequences

Swiss ambassador Adrian Dominik Hauri told the Security Council on Tuesday that recent developments had further increased the burden for a population suffering from Russian military aggression. 

Noting that large-scale evacuations were under way on both sides of the front line and that thousands of people were likely to be affected, Hauri said that, in addition to the devastating short-term consequences in southern Ukraine, the international community must be prepared for serious long-term ones. 

On that, he expressed concern over the risks that massive flooding could pose to the environment, as well as to energy and food security. Noting that “this event is a sad example of the links between water and the protection of civilians”, he stressed that the priority must be to protect the civilian population. 

He also called for rapid, unfettered access for humanitarian aid to be guaranteed throughout Ukraine and stressed that the Kakhovka dam is protected under the rules of international humanitarian law, regardless of whether it is considered a civilian facility or a military objective. 

Hauri called for Russia to immediately de-escalate the situation and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory without delay.