Baltic states call Ukraine dam explosion a Russian war crime
Lithuania's president and the foreign ministers of Latvia and Estonia said on Tuesday the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was a war crime for which Russia must be held accountable.
Lithuania's president and the foreign ministers of Latvia and Estonia said on Tuesday the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was a war crime for which Russia must be held accountable. They did not offer evidence that Russia was responsible for the destruction.
"Today we witness an unprecedented Russian attack against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure," Nauseda tweeted. "The destruction of a major dam is a crime of war that directly threatens thousands of people. Russia must be held accountable for it", he said. "And Ukraine must win this war to stay safe!"
Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the dam from the inside in a deliberate war crime. Russian-installed officials gave conflicting accounts, some blaming Ukrainian shelling, others saying the dam had burst on its own due to earlier damage. The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, members of both the European Union and NATO, share a border with Russia and are among its staunchest critics, as well being among the fiercest supporters of Ukraine in both blocs.
"This war crime will result in ecocide, enormous economic damage and displacement of thousands of people. The perpetrators of war crimes must be brought under special tribunal", Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna tweeted. "Russia is a terrorist state and needs to be stopped. We must step up the support for Ukraine and bring war criminals to justice", tweeted Edgars Rinkevics, Latvian foreign minister who will be sworn in as the country's president in July.
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