MOSCOW — 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 Red Cross stated.
The huge Soviet-era Kakhovka dam, underneath 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 stated 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 stated the dam might have collapsed.
The waters have additionally washed over numerous land mines sown in the course of the 15-month conflict and no person now is aware of the place they’re: they may nonetheless be within the minefields or might be caught within the river mud or in fields, gardens and roads throughout an enormous space.
“In the past we knew where the hazards were. Now we don’t know. All we know is that they are somewhere downstream,” stated Erik Tollefsen, head of the Weapon Contamination Unit on the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“It is with a certain horror that we look at the news coming out,” stated Tollefsen in an audio clip, including that World War Two mines discovered underwater in Denmark in 2015 had been nonetheless energetic.
The conflict in Ukraine, the most important in Europe since World War Two, has left an enormous 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.
Besides 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, stated Tollefsen.
“We just know the numbers are massive,” stated Tollefsen.
Tollefsen stated the problem with mines was not essentially the nominal variety of mines however the place they had been laid—particularly in a closely agricultural nation akin to Ukraine.
He stated that areas downstream of the dam contained minefields of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines laid by events to the battle.
During 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 substances within the floodwaters. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
