EU sends aid to Ukraine to tackle consequences of Kakhovka dam breach
The EU will send aid to Ukraine after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP (Photo:REUTERS/Yves Herman)
The European Union is mobilising support for Ukraine to tackle the humanitarian and ecological consequences of the flooding from the Kakhovka dam breach, with Lithuania, Germany and Austria the first to respond, the European Commission said on June 7.
"In an immediate response, the EU is already channeling aid via its Civil Protection Mechanism thanks to first offers from Germany, Austria and Lithuania," an article on the commission’s website reads.
Equipment from these countries is on the way to Ukraine, namely 5,000 water filters and 56 power generators from Germany and 10 mud water pumps and 20 water containers from Austria. Besides, Lithuania and Germany will supply tents, beds and blankets."
The EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre is in direct contact with the Ukrainian emergency services to monitor the exact needs on the ground, and stands ready to coordinate further assistance into Ukraine based on the emerging needs," the European Commission said.
Lithuania will provide humanitarian aid for Ukraine, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė, according to LRT's publication.
“We understand that the situation is very difficult indeed and we have to do everything we can to help our friends and brothers in Ukraine,” she told journalists on June 7.
The aid includes 30 tents, 240 folding beds and EUR 50,000 in financial assistance.
The country is getting ready to accept more refugees from Ukraine as well, she said.
The U.S. President Joe Biden said: "We are not leaving. We’re going to help Ukraine," while responding to a question about the Russian explosion of the Kakhovka dam.
The latest news about the situation with Kakhovka dam destruction
During the night of June 6, Russian forces, which have occupied the town of Nova Kakhovka for over a year, blew up the dam, completely or partially flooding downstream cities and towns along the Dnipro River, Ukrainian authorities say. However, Kherson Oblast’s left bank is suffering more from Russia’s destruction of Kakhovka dam.
At an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered the evacuation of at-risk areas and the provision of drinking water to towns and villages served by the affected Kakhovka Reservoir.
The Kakhovska Hydroelectric Power Station is completely destroyed, with no possibility of its repair, Ukrainian state hydroelectric company Ukrhydroenergo said. Not all of the dam was destroyed, but it suffered significant damage, the Ukrainian military’s South Operational Command said.
The scale of the destruction has been roughly estimated at $1 billion, according to Ukraine's Economic Ministry. It will take at least five years to repair damage.
Around 16,000 people on the right (western) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast are in a “critical zone” at risk of flooding according to the region’s governor, Oleksandr Prokudin.
The Prosecutor General’s Office opened an investigation on the incident under article of the Criminal Code on ecocide.
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