Ukraine accuses Russia before the UN of having placed mines in the Kajovka dam

MADRID, 22 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Ukraine has accused Russia before the UN Security Council of laying mines in the vicinity of the Kajovka hydroelectric power plant and dam in the Ukrainian region of Jershon.

"Russian terrorists have mined the dam and the aggregates of the Kajovka hydroelectric power plant, whose destruction would subject more than 80 settlements and hundreds of thousands of people to rapid flooding," said representative Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Sergii Kislitsia.

In this sense, he has pointed out the need for an international observation mission to start at the plant, as well as for the Ukrainian personnel to return to it in order to avoid "another act of terror", guaranteeing "immediate demining".

However, Kislitsia has urged the United Nations to increase its assistance and protection services and to provide Ukraine with power generation equipment, given the energy crisis facing the country after Russian attacks on critical infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky warned on Thursday that a Russian attack on the Kakhovka dam would be equated with the use of weapons of mass destruction, as it could wipe out more than 80 towns, including Kherson.

"In the case of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the North Crimean Canal will simply disappear. And if Russia is preparing such a terrorist attack, if it is seriously considering such a scenario, it means that the terrorists are well aware that they can not only control Kherson, but also the entire south of our country, including Crimea," Zelensky said in his daily address to the country's population.

For this reason, he called on the international community to react preventively: "The principle of preventive response to security threats must finally become one of the basic principles of international politics."