Greta Thunberg slams world response to dam collapse 'ecocide' during Kyiv visit
Greta Thunberg, environmental activist and member of the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War attends a press conference after a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 29.
PHOTO: Reuters
PUBLISHED ONJUNE 29, 2023
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg visited Kyiv on Thursday (June 29) to draw attention to environmental damage caused by war in Ukraine and criticised the world's response to the June 6 collapse of the vast hydro-electric Kakhovka dam.
Ukraine is investigating the dam blast, which unleashed floods across southern Ukraine and Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region, as a war crime and possible criminal environmental destruction, or "ecocide". It has estimated the cost of the dam's collapse at 1.2 billion euros (S$1.8 billion).
Kyiv and Russia have blamed each other for the dam's destruction.
"I do not think that the world reaction to this ecocide was enough," said Thunberg, who was in Kyiv for the inaugural meeting of a new environmental group that also includes senior European political figures.
"We have to talk louder about it, we have to raise awareness about what is going on," she said, according to a Ukrainian translation of her comments.
The group is tasked with assessing the damage to Ukraine's environment and developing mechanisms to hold Russia accountable, said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff and co-chair of the group along with former Swedish deputy prime minister Margot Wallstrom.
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The environment risks becoming the "silent victim of war" with about 30 per cent of Ukraine's territory contaminated with explosive objects and over 2.4 million hectares of forests damaged, Ukraine's prosecutor general Andriy Kostin said in a Twitter post to mark the meeting.
"We call for strengthening international efforts to investigate and prosecute Russia's war crimes against the environment and to ensure that the aggressor pays," he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended the meeting and thanked members of the group for their visit as an "extremely important signal of support."
PUBLISHED ON
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg visited Kyiv on Thursday (June 29) to draw attention to environmental damage caused by war in Ukraine and criticised the world's response to the June 6 collapse of the vast hydro-electric Kakhovka dam.
Ukraine is investigating the dam blast, which unleashed floods across southern Ukraine and Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region, as a war crime and possible criminal environmental destruction, or "ecocide". It has estimated the cost of the dam's collapse at 1.2 billion euros (S$1.8 billion).
Kyiv and Russia have blamed each other for the dam's destruction.
"I do not think that the world reaction to this ecocide was enough," said Thunberg, who was in Kyiv for the inaugural meeting of a new environmental group that also includes senior European political figures.
"We have to talk louder about it, we have to raise awareness about what is going on," she said, according to a Ukrainian translation of her comments.
The group is tasked with assessing the damage to Ukraine's environment and developing mechanisms to hold Russia accountable, said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff and co-chair of the group along with former Swedish deputy prime minister Margot Wallstrom.
Read Also
Evidence suggests Russia blew Kakhovka dam in Ukraine: NYT
The environment risks becoming the "silent victim of war" with about 30 per cent of Ukraine's territory contaminated with explosive objects and over 2.4 million hectares of forests damaged, Ukraine's prosecutor general Andriy Kostin said in a Twitter post to mark the meeting.
"We call for strengthening international efforts to investigate and prosecute Russia's war crimes against the environment and to ensure that the aggressor pays," he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended the meeting and thanked members of the group for their visit as an "extremely important signal of support."
Zelensky meets Thunberg and others to address war's effect on Ukraine's ecology
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and prominent European figures who are forming a working group to address ecological damage from the Russian invasion.
The meeting in the Ukrainian capital came as fighting continued around the country.
The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said two people were killed in the region’s capital in a Russian strike that hit residences, a medical facility and a school where residents were lined up to receive humanitarian aid.
Another person was killed in a morning strike on the village of Bilzoerka, the regional prosecutor’s office said.
The presidential office said on Thursday morning that at least eight civilians died in Russian attacks during the previous 24 hours.
Mr Zelensky also met former US vice president Mike Pence who visited Kyiv. Mr Pence, an advocate of US support to Ukraine, is running for the 2024 Republican nomination for president.
“We appreciate that both major US parties, the Republican and Democratic, remain united in their support for Ukraine. And, of course, we feel the strong support of the people of the United States,” Mr Zelenskyy told Mr Pence, according to the presidential website.
The working group on the environment includes Ms Thunberg, former Swedish deputy prime minister Margot Wallstrom, European Parliament vice president Heidi Hautala, and former Irish president Mary Robinson.
Mr Zelensky said forming the group is “a very important signal of supporting Ukraine. It’s really important, we need your professional help”.
Ms Thunberg said Russian forces “are deliberately targeting the environment and people’s livelihoods and homes. And therefore also destroying lives. Because this is after all a matter of people”.
The objectives of the working group are evaluating the environmental damage resulting from the war, formulating mechanisms to hold Russia accountable, and undertaking efforts to restore Ukraine’s ecology.
In Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill met Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican envoy for seeking peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Kirill, a supporter of the war, said: “It is very important that the Christian communities of East and West take part in the process of reconciliation,” according to video circulated by the Russian church.
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