© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A satellite tv for pc picture reveals broken Nova Kakhovka Dam, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, in Kherson area, Ukraine, June 6, 2023. PLANET LABS PBC/Handout by way of REUTERS
By Man Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Mines uprooted and dispersed by floodwaters surging downstream from the breached Kakhovka dam throughout swathes of southern Ukraine may pose a grave hazard to civilians for many years to come back, the Purple Cross mentioned.
The huge Soviet-era Kakhovka dam, below Russian management, was breached within the early hours of Tuesday, unleashing floodwaters throughout a swathe of the warzone and endangering the lives and welfare of tens of 1000’s of individuals.
Ukraine blamed Russia for blowing it up. Russia mentioned Ukraine sabotaged the dam on the behest of the West to constrict water provides to Crimea and to distract from a faltering offensive. Some Russian-backed officers mentioned the dam might have collapsed.
The waters have additionally washed over numerous land mines sown throughout the 15-month conflict and no person now is aware of the place they’re: they might nonetheless be within the minefields or may very well be caught within the river mud or in fields, gardens and roads throughout an unlimited space.
“Up to now we knew the place the hazards have been. Now we do not know. All we all know is that they’re someplace downstream,” mentioned Erik Tollefsen, head of the Weapon Contamination Unit on the Worldwide Committee of the Purple Cross.
“It’s with a sure horror that we take a look at the information popping out,” mentioned Tollefsen in an audio clip, including that World Struggle Two mines discovered underwater in Denmark in 2015 have been nonetheless energetic.
The conflict in Ukraine, the most important in Europe since World Struggle Two, has left an unlimited quantity of mines and unexploded ordnances throughout swathes of the nation – a danger campaigners have been warning about since Russia despatched in troops in February final 12 months.
In addition to anti-personnel mines, either side have used huge quantities of artillery shells and anti-tank mines. The precise variety of mines in Ukraine is unclear, mentioned Tollefsen.
“We simply know the numbers are large,” mentioned Tollefsen.
Tollefsen mentioned the problem with mines was not essentially the nominal variety of mines however the place they have been laid – particularly in a closely agricultural nation akin to Ukraine.
He mentioned that areas downstream of the dam contained minefields of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines laid by events to the battle.
Throughout a go to on Wednesday to the town of Kherson, which has been closely impacted by the catastrophe, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov additionally warned of the risks posed by floating mines and likewise of the unfold of illness and dangerous chemical compounds within the floodwaters.
