Russia has taken its aggression against Ukraine to a new level with the destruction of the New Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in the south of Ukraine. This is the view of the European Union and NATO, which have categorically condemned this attack, although its authorship has not yet been officially confirmed. “Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian civilian critical infrastructure have reached an unprecedented level with the destruction of the dam of the Kajovka hydroelectric plant”, stated, on the one hand, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.

“The European Union condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms. It represents a new dimension of Russian atrocities and could constitute a violation of international lawparticularly international humanitarian law”, Borrell insisted in his complaint, warning of the consequences that are already being recorded: the explosion has endangered the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and is affecting access to cooling water for the Zaporiya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).

For the European leader, “with this desperate act, Russia it also continues its risky nuclear bet by jeopardizing the proper functioning of the security and protection systems of the ZNPP”. Borrell concluded his speech on this issue by stressing that the EU is already in contact with the Ukrainian authorities to see how to implement the collaboration mechanism , help and rescue in the areas devastated by the blowing up of the dam.

The EU has not been the only institution to express itself on this atrocious offensive; Also, NATO. The organization’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has affirmed for his part that the destruction of the dam is another proof of the “brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine“. “The destruction endangers thousands of civilians and causes serious environmental damage,” stressed the Norwegian politician, in a similar vein to that of Borrell, adding that “it is an outrageous act.”

Both Stoltenberg and Borrell have expressed themselves in these terms after Ukraine and its Western allies accused Russia of blowing up the dam in a deliberate war crime. Nevertheless, The Kremlin has claimed that it was Ukraine that sabotaged the dam to divert attention from a Moscow counter-offensive that, as he has pointed out, is failing.