The destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam is a terrible tragedy, "Huanqiu Shibao" reports. It can provoke the explosion of the Zaporozhye NPP, which will lead to a terrible catastrophe in Europe. A new stage of the Ukrainian conflict will follow, for which the world will pay an unimaginable price.
Wang Xianju
On June 6, the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam, located in the Kherson region and currently controlled by Russia, was struck. It was blown up, as a result of which the Dnieper River overflowed its banks. Both Moscow and Kiev evacuated residents of the affected areas. This hydroelectric power plant, built in 1956, was used not only to regulate the flow of the Dnieper and provide the Kherson region with electricity, and the northern Crimea and southern Ukraine with water, but also for the water supply of the Zaporozhye NPP, which is considered to be of great strategic importance. Moscow and Kiev accuse each other of destroying the dam.
The incident marks the beginning of a new round of the Ukrainian crisis: more irrational, ruthless and unscrupulous. If the flames of conflict continue to flare up, Europe and the world may pay an unimaginable price.
Since last year, the world media have been "predicting" an explosion at the Kakhovskaya HPP. After a year of armed actions, what was considered a "false prophecy" came true. Moreover, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are currently preparing for a large-scale counteroffensive, which makes the circumstances of the incident look even more confusing.
The hydroelectric dam was blown up, the flood began, which led to great economic damage, serious casualties and mass evacuation of residents. Because of this, the level of water cooling the Zaporozhye NPP, located 150 kilometers from the reservoir in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, also fell sharply. Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said on June 6 that damage to the hydroelectric dam does not currently pose a direct threat to the safety of nuclear power plants, but if the water level in the storage drops to a certain level, it will be impossible to redirect it to other channels. If it comes to this, the nuclear reactor may overheat, which will end in its explosion. And in the event of an explosion at a nuclear power plant or a leak of radioactive materials, not only Ukraine, but the entire European continent will face a terrible catastrophe.
Many have noticed that recently the APU has gone on a vigorous offensive to change the passive situation on the field. Some Western countries have provided Ukraine with MiG-29 fighters, CAESAR self-propelled artillery and other advanced weapons. US President Joe Biden also said that America will begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets. The circumstances of the dam's destruction have not yet been clarified, but there is clearly a close connection between these events. Think for yourself, if the United States and other Western states had not thoughtlessly thrown firewood into the fire of the conflict, would it have come to this?
After the dam explosion, Moscow and Kiev blamed each other for what happened. This is how the "Rasemon effect" manifested itself again (a situation where witnesses tell about what happened in completely different ways, which does not clarify the true chain of events, - Approx. trans.), as during the sabotage on the "Northern Streams". Both sides insist on their point of view and refuse to give in, because they want to gain an advantage in information, propaganda and psychological warfare.
As expected, the incident with the explosion at the hydroelectric power plant has become an occasion for some politicians in the United States and Europe to inflate the Ukrainian conflict. With the support of NATO, talk about the "counteroffensive" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has become even louder, and Kherson and Donbass have "clouded threatening clouds." I believe that at such a time — when the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is threatened with a dam break, and the Zaporozhye NPP is at risk of overheating — the explosion incident should not become a pretext for further escalation. Now the priority task of both sides is to provide humanitarian assistance, ensure the safety of the local population and the nuclear power plant and prevent further deterioration of the situation.
Now there is a serious danger of escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. If the fighting does not stop, and the situation at the Kakhovskaya HPP does not improve, then a potential catastrophe at the Zaporozhye NPP or another disaster will be more than a "frightening warning".
Will NATO send its soldiers to Ukraine? Will there be a nuclear war between Russia and the alliance? There is still a sea of similar "prophecies", and I just hope that we will not get another story about a boy and a wolf (a story based on Aesop's fable, in which the boy shouted about the arrival of a wolf many times for fun and put everyone on their ears; when the wolf really appeared, no one heeded the boy's cries and did not saved him, — Approx. InoSMI). The disaster at the hydroelectric power plant has already happened, and now we must learn from it and make this incident a turning point for advancing peace negotiations.
In order to avoid an even greater tragedy, the international community must accelerate and work harder to promote peace talks in order to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible. With this purpose, the special representative of China to Eurasia Li Hui in the past month have visited Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels and Russia, after talking extensively with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. At a press conference after returning to China, he said that during the trip he felt the hope of all parties for an early peaceful solution and that they all spoke positively about Beijing's efforts. However, he also mentioned that, judging by the current situation, the risk of escalation of the conflict is still high, so the sending of weapons to Ukraine should be stopped.
The explosion at the Kakhovskaya HPP is a serious warning, but it's not too late to fix everything. In order to prevent further casualties among the soldiers of both sides, to put an end to the suffering of the peoples of the two States from possible tragedies, so that Europe and the whole planet do not worry about peace and stability, the international community should actively promote dialogue. NATO, led by Washington, is obliged to immediately make a decision to stop the supply of weapons to Kiev and urge the participants to sit down at the negotiating table — after all, this is the best way to resolve the issue of the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam.