Ghanna Mamonova writes:

Before the dam explosion, residents of the Kherson region in southeastern Ukraine referred to the local reservoir simply as the “sea.”

Now, just one year after the June 6, 2023, attack on the Kakhovka Dam, they call it the “dead sea.” Once vast, its water irrigated farms and kept hundreds of thousands of people hydrated. It was replete with fish that had provided sustenance to the local population for generations.

The attack, which was carried out by Russian occupying forces, sent contaminated floodwaters measuring trillions of gallons into the Black Sea. It was the worst blow to the environment in a war that has ravaged Ukraine’s ecology and is considered one of the worst human-caused natural disasters of all time.

Since October, a Ukrainian team of prosecutors, ecologists and scientists has been regularly testing the area as part of efforts to build a case against Russia and charge its aggressor with ecocide. Kyiv wants this added to the list of international crimes recognized by the International Criminal Court (ICC), along with genocide, crimes against humanity, aggression and war crimes. [Continue reading…]