Why is Russia guilty in any scenario?
Kakhovka HPP (Photo:Alexey Konovalov/TASS/Handout via REUTERS)
Many global media outlets have questioned Russian responsibility for the catastrophe at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam on June 6th. We do not yet have unequivocal and unquestionable evidence of Russia undermining the dam. However, there are at least three reasons why the full responsibility for this crime (as well as many other, smaller crimes) against Ukraine and nature as a whole lies with the Russians:
Logical: Having begun an illegal and unjust war against Ukraine, Russians are responsible for all the evils they have produced. The root cause of all Russian crimes in Ukraine is the crime of aggression, condemned by most countries worldwide. The Kakhovka dam disaster is another deadly fruit of a poisoned tree that Russia has grown with the support and silent consent of the overwhelming majority of its population.
Legal: The main structures of the destroyed hydroelectric power station were controlled by the Russian Federation, and Russian military and engineers had access to them, including the dam's interior. Therefore, according to international law, the occupying forces bear the lion's share of responsibility for preserving critical infrastructure facilities (as well as issues of civilian safety, preservation of cultural treasures, ecology, etc., in the occupied territories). Since they exercise effective control over the administrative and industrial facilities of the HPP, they should have taken care of its safety and protection from destruction.
If the Russians had not behaved as occupying barbarians, but instead followed the laws and customs of war
Ethical: , and also cared about civilians and nature, they would have transferred all the sites they captured by them that could lead to such a man-made disaster to independent international organizations. They would not deploy military equipment, soldiers, and ammunition with explosives at such locations. This also applies to the Zaporizhzhia NPP and chemical and energy facilities in the south and east of Ukraine. Obviously, if Russia had at least tried to behave civilized, objects of increased danger could have been demilitarized and provided with bilateral monitoring involving international mediators without additional risk to people and nature. Ukraine does not benefit from its people becoming victims or the destruction of its infrastructure, industry, and agriculture, so we are interested in making the war as undestructive for us as possible. Russia, as we see from its specific actions and inaction, deliberately increases the harm from the war, multiplies people's suffering, and does not even seek ways to minimize the evil from its wild aggression.
The whole world sees that, unfortunately, Russia has chosen the tactic of "nothing will stand after us," so regardless of whether they directly undermined the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station to hinder the Ukrainian counterattack in the south, or simply allowed their barbaric behavior to lead to a catastrophe, all responsibility for it lies with the occupiers.
You do not need to be a genius or have a doctorate in probability theory to understand these points. It is enough to have the elementary ability to think and see cause-and-effect relationships between events.
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