Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
Russia has triggered an environmental disaster that has become a threat to millions of Europeans
Russia is using terrorist attacks as tool of warfare. At this stage of the unprovoked war against Ukraine, Russian forces have weakened to the point where they cannot hold previously occupied territories. A lack of weapons and trained troops are pushing Putin to commit terrorist attacks that threaten Ukraine and Europe. There is every reason to say that Russia is waging a global terrorist war that has created the widest range of challenges and threats to humanity. Its raison d’être is to blackmail Ukraine and the international community for the sake of negotiations and the freezing of the war. Putin needs a tactical pause to regain his strength and retake Ukraine. A major war between Russia and NATO in Europe is imminent if the West succumbs to the Kremlin’s bluff. The West must systematically weaken the Russian Federation, a terrorist state whose actions threaten every European.
In addition to massive missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s civil infrastructure, Russia is preparing to carry out terrorist attacks that threaten chemical pollution as well as environmental and radiation disasters. In essence, Russia is already committing ecocide in Ukraine and the highest military and political leadership of the Russian Federation has approved these actions. As a result of the destruction of the Kakhovska Hydroelectric Power Station dam, at least 600 thousand square kilometres have been flooded and there is a risk of epidemics. The water in the Dnieper is badly polluted – at least 150 tons of oil, as well as sewage and chemical waste, flowed into the river and from there into the Black Sea. A large-scale environmental disaster is almost unavoidable not only in several regions of Ukraine but also in the coastal regions of Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
As a consequence of the crime committed by Russia, the ecosystem of the flooded areas of Ukraine and the coastal area of the Black Sea have been severely affected. At least 150 cases of dolphin deaths are known, and rare species of birds, mammals, and amphibians have perished. About 95 thousand tons of fish have died in the Kakhovka reservo. Over 20 thousand wild animals – including roe deer, wild boars, and hares – lived on the flooded territories, many of which failed to escape from the deluge. 50 thousand hectares of forests have been completely flooded. It is difficult to overestimate the scale of the ecological disaster deliberately caused by Russia.
The most dangerous manifestation of Russian terror is nuclear blackmail. Russian propaganda began to systematically play up the “nuclear case” soon after the terrorist attack on the Kakhovska hydroelectric power plant when in parallel with calls to destroy other Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants upstream of the Dnieper river, there were calls to launch a nuclear strike on Ukraine. In particular, Moscow-based political analyst Karaganov, a frequent guest on various propaganda programmes, voiced this opinion. Nuclear blackmail is logically linked to the bombing of the hydroelectric plant and the subsequent damming of the Kakhovka reservoir. As a consequence of this terrorist attack, Zaporizhzhya NPP has been deprived of water to cool its reactors. A certain reserve is available in the technical reservoirs of ZNPP, but this power plant is so large in size that efficient and uninterrupted cooling is necessary for its safe functioning. Russia wants to commit a “technical terrorist attack” on ZNPP by inertia, blaming Ukraine. Unable to hold the occupied territories, Russia is ready to go for broke and provoke a radiation disaster, the victims of which will be civilians living near the power plant. Add to this the bombing of the Titan chemical plant in the Crimean town of Armyansk, near the administrative border with the Kherson region, the conclusion is inescapable that Putin is waging a global terrorist war, the environmental and radiological consequences of which will affect not only Ukraine but also Europe.
The range of threats posed by Putin’s Russia could provoke global destabilisation. The Kremlin is prepared to carry out terrorist attacks on Ukraine’s hydro, chemical, and nuclear facilities to suit its ambitions. Russia must be stopped collectively before its actions provoke disaster.
