Black Sea dolphins threatened with extinction due to Russian ecocide
About 150 dolphin carcasses were found on Black Sea coasts in Turkey and Bulgaria following the Russian destruction of the Kakhovka Dam and the species may be threatened with extinction, presidential chief-of-staff Andriy Yermak said on June 20.
The bodies of other animals, including roe deer, foxes, and hares, may also be carried by the Black Sea current. Over 20,000 species resided in the southern areas of Ukraine, where more than 50,000 hectares of forests have been flooded. At least half of these forests will not survive.
Additionally, Yermak stated that approximately 150 tons of grease or oil stains are flowing down the Dnipro River and could potentially reach the Mediterranean Sea.
The surface of the Nova Kakhovka Reservoir itself is covered with dead fish, amounting to approximately 95,000 tons of biomatter.
On the night of Tuesday, June 6, Russian troops detonated the Kakhovka Dam, which had been under occupation for over a year. Cities and villages downstream of the dam on the Dnipro River were completely or partially flooded.
Ukrainian hydropower operator Ukrhydroenergo reported that the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was completely destroyed and is beyond repair. Ukraine's Southern Command clarified that although the entire dam was not destroyed, significant damage occurred.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has initiated an investigation into the incident, charging it as ecocide.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia's attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant as the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades.
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