The coalition "Ukraine. Five o'clock in the Morning" coalition sees the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station on the night of 6 June 2023 as a war crime, all the circumstances of which are yet to be clarified. However, it is already clear today that those who committed this crime could not have been unaware of the devastating consequences of such a step.
The available photographic and video evidence of the extent of the damage to the dam confirms the version that the dam was blown up with explosives. A missile attack could not have caused such an immediate effect and a significant hole. Given Russia's control over the hydroelectric power plant and reports of mines dating back to October 2022, it is now highly likely that the explosion was the result of a deliberate detonation of explosives planted by Russia.
Dams and dams are among the objects that enjoy one of the highest levels of legal protection under international humanitarian law (IHL). Together with nuclear power plants, such facilities are referred to as installations and structures containing dangerous forces.
The explosion of the Kakhovka HPP spillway dam is a serious violation of the prohibition established by Article 56 of the First Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions, which is relative to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts. This provision prohibits attacks on installations and structures containing dangerous forces (dams, dikes, nuclear power plants), even when such structures are military objectives, if such an attack could result in the release of dangerous forces and further severe civilian casualties.
Such unlawful acts constitute serious violations of a large number of conventional and customary rules of international humanitarian law and are clearly a war crime. The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station once again confirms the barbaric and criminal nature of the Russian Federation's warfare.
The explosion of the hydroelectric power plant is perhaps the only case in the history of international criminal justice that can be qualified under Art. 8 (2) (b) (iv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: "Intentionally carrying out an attack in the knowledge that such an attack will result in incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, prolonged and severe damage to the environment which is manifestly excessive in relation to a specific and directly anticipated overall military advantage".
The outcome of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station explosion, all the negative and tragic consequences for the Kherson region and the whole of Ukraine, are currently difficult to predict. The flooding of a large area as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP spillway dam will deprive the residents of Kherson region and the temporarily occupied Crimea of drinking water. In addition, it poses a threat of flooding and destruction to dozens of settlements and to the operation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Such a large-scale environmental disaster can be further qualified as ecocide.
The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant by the Russian military once again indicates Russia's complete disregard for its international obligations and international humanitarian law, which has become a well-established policy of the Russian Federation, a state that terrorises the civilian population and pursues a genocidal policy against the Ukrainian people.
The coalition "Ukraine. Five o'clock in the Morning" coalition emphasises that only the de-occupation of all Ukrainian territories will put an end to the massive violations of international humanitarian law, human rights and the barbaric destruction of the environment as a result of Russian aggression.
We call on the world to take measures to deprive Russia of its influence in the UN Security Council and other international organisations.
For the crime of blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and other war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, both the direct perpetrators and the highest military and political leadership of the Russian Federation must be brought to justice. The organisations of the Coalition "Ukraine. Five o'clock in the Morning" Coalition are constantly working on this and are ready to provide all the documented data to the International Criminal Court and other institutions investigating violations of IHL in Ukraine.
The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and other environmental crimes committed by Russia on the territory of Ukraine should push the international community to criminalise ecocide as the fifth crime over which the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction.
06.06.2023
