The Kakhovka dam explosion has been described as Europe's worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl.
Volodymyr Zelensky has hit out at Russia for the Kakhovka dam explosion
Nearly 20,000 people in Ukraine have been rescued from the devastating deluge following the blast that broke open the dam in the early hours of Tuesday (06.07.23).
Ukrainians who live close to the Dnipro River are now threatened by hazardous chemicals and disease and deputy foreign minister Andrij Melnyk likened the flood to the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant that sent a radioactive cloud across Europe in 1986 and questioned those who think the war-torn country should hold peace talks with Russia.
He wrote: "The worst environmental disaster in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster. Only this time Moscow deliberately used this weapon of mass destruction against the Ukrainians. Who else wants to negotiate with Putin?"
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the world to react to the "environmental bomb of mass destruction" unleashed by Russian despot Vladimir Putin.
He said: "This crime carries enormous threats and will have dire consequences for people's lives and the environment.
"We can only help on the territory controlled by Ukraine. On the part occupied by Russia, the occupiers are not even trying to help.
"This again demonstrates the cynicism with which Russia treats people whose land it has captured."