EU says dam blast shows "barbaric" nature of Russian aggression

The EU on June 6 condemned the destruction of a major hydroelectric dam in the south of Ukraine as a new example of the "barbaric aggression" by Russia against Ukraine.

"This is a new sign of escalation, bringing the horrific and barbaric nature of Russian aggression against Ukraine to unprecedented levels," EU Commission spokesman Peter Stano said at a press conference in Brussels, Reuters reports.

"The EU strongly condemns this horrific and barbaric attack on this key infrastructure with terrible humanitarian and environmental consequences. Obviously, this is taking place in the context of Russia's illegal aggression, in which Putin does not hesitate to use starvation, energy, winter and nuclear power plants in Ukraine as weapons," the European Commission spokesman said.

On the morning of June 6, Operational Command Yug reported that Russian occupants had blown up the Kakhovska hydroelectric plant; later, the regional military administration confirmed this information. Aleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson OVA, reported that the evacuation of the local population from the dangerous areas had begun.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia's bombing of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant a terrible war crime and probably the largest man-made disaster in Europe in decades.