大象传媒

In Ukraine the breaching of a major dam continues to have a catastrophic effect in the south of the country.

Thousands have already been evacuated from parts of the Kherson region as water continues to surge down the Dnipro river which divides Russian and Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Both Ukraine and Russia - engaged in a war for more than a year - blame each other for sabotaging the Kakhovka dam. The 大象传媒 has been unable to verify claims from either side.

But aside from the humanitarian disaster, Ukrainian authorities say the environmental toll will devastate lives for decades, as Newsday heard from Svitlana Romanko. She's a Ukrainian environmental lawyer and climate justice campaigner with the "Razom We Stand" organisation based in Ivano-Frankivsk:

"The destruction represents a massive ecological catastrophe... in Ukraine and outside its borders for years to come. In the context of the climate crisis this will exacerbate the negative effect of climate change because a huge source of renewable energy... and irrigation is destroyed. It will impact food security all over the world."

(Pic: Dead fish are seen on the drained bottom of the Nova Kakhovka reservoir after the dam breach in the village of Marianske in Dnipropetrovsk region; Credit: Reuters)

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