All day, I have been doing my best to avoid manipulations regarding the consequences of russians blowing up Kahovka HPP Bridge, but as the catastrophe unfolds, grim understanding kicks in. Many elderly people and people with mobility issues were not able to evacuate before the water flooded their houses. We won’t know the extent of the losses until or if the water recedes. Same with domestic animals, animals from the zoo, and rare wildlife species. Thousands of people in the South of Ukraine are losing their homes and being displaced as I am writing this in Kyiv.
Meanwhile, the water washes away mines planted by russian soldiers, and they detonate uncontrollably, floating in the current. Also, russians continue to shell the region to hinder the evacuation efforts of Ukrainian authorities.
Fertile lands are being lost to the flood. This is a huge blow to Ukrainian agriculture and a direct threat not only to ourselves but also to the livelihoods of many countries in the Global South dependent on Ukrainian crops.
The Southern regions of Ukraine are about to face technical and drinking water shortages. Some parts are controlled by Ukraine and may count on humanitarian support. Others are currently under russian occupation, i.e., completely on their own in the face of devastating, life-threatening tragedy.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently occupied by russians, is likely to lose a lot of water used for its cooling systems. russians have also been intimidating and torturing its staff, who stayed there to avert nuclear catastrophe amid the occupation.
This is hell. We can only hope to save as many lives as possible. No country would inflict something so monstrous on itself. Please do not be fooled by the so-called ambiguity promoted by russian propaganda and some Western media. Kahovka HPP Bridge has been mined by russians for months and overlooked by the allies of Ukraine despite frequent warnings by our authorities.
This is a russian doing. This is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. This is an act of terror and ecocide sponsored by the russian people.
What is really bothering me about the situation about Russia blowing up Kakhovska HPP on the Dnipro River, is people claiming that they “refuse to listen to propaganda”, and saying Ukraine did it themselves…
Whilst overall its good to look around for different sources. You also have think about potential benefits/motives a side would have from doing this.
The damage to Ukraine is horrific, and is by no means going to be easy to fix in the future. The ecological damage might be even permanent. Not only have lives, and homes been lost, but huge areas of farmland. Soldiers can’t fight on empty stomach BTW, so this just doesn’t seem like a good tactical decision to do to your own land.
This is before we even talk about how it might even trigger problems at a nuclear power plant.
For what, they get to point fingers at Russia? This does not seem like a good cost verses benefits. A little international anger for this level of damage?? It seems unlikely.
Yes, they have done it, the act of ecocide. It was predicted almost a year ago when it was first reported that the Russians had mined the dam. They’ve been preparing for it. Over the past few months, they have been draining the reservoir while simultaneously filling all reservoirs in Crimea, because blowing up this dam means no more fresh water supply to Crimea. So everyone who claimed that Russia invaded Ukraine to secure fresh water for Crimea can now go fuck themselves.
Of course they first claimed it was Ukraine’s doing. Although some occupiers already happily admit that it was russia who blew it up, and call for blowing up more of Ukraine’s infrastructure.
It’s typical russian scorched earth tactics. Blowing up the dam can possibly prevent the Ukrainian army landing on the left bank of the Dnipro, and it frees russian troops from the left bank, meaning they can be sent as reinforcement to other front lines, for example, in the Donetsk region.
It is probably the greatest ecological catastrophe since Chornobyl, with thousands of people affected, left homeless, entire villages destroyed probably forever. But the russians don’t give two fucks about that. They don’t care about any life. Their main objective is not necessarily to claim the land for themselves, but rather to ensure it is not Ukrainian. If they cannot have it, they want to leave it uninhabitable.
Could I ask you guys to do a favour for me? I don’t know if you’ve heard it or not but there is some news going on that our protests have succeeded and morality police has been shut down. This is a half truth. And half-truths are worse than lies. Let me explain.
While it’s true that it has been “shut down” (at least in theory) it’s nothing to celebrate about. As it’s just a strategy to calm the people (the gullible ones at least) and show themselves as good people to the outside world. As soon as they feel the protests are dying down they will bring it back tenfold.
Hijab is still a law in the constitution. You will still not be serviced anywhere if you’re not a hijabi. there are still polices and extremists who will crackdown and arrest women who are not wearing their hijab. So just because the morality police is disbanded doesn’t mean that there is a freedom to choose at all.
Furthermore, simply the shutdown of the morality police is NOT the Iranian people’s goal In these protests. We don’t just want the morality police gone. We want THE ENTIRE REGIME gone.
So I want you guys to once again be our voices and let everyone know that this war is still not done, and ask them to not turn their attention away from us. I will now copy and paste the text you will need to tweet (or you can use your own words) and the organizations you need to tag. Remember the hashtag #mahsa amini as well.
*Some international news sites are talking about the Iranian people winning the revolution because the morality police has stopped working. The work of morality police has not been stopped and only its name has been changed*
*This is a PR move by the regime to quiet the upcoming nationwide protests. After 3 months of violence, rape, imprisonment & murder of protesters, it’s too little too late. This uprising is no longer just about draconian dress codes. The Iranian people want democracy.*
“Stacey Yvonne Abrams (born December 9, 1973) is an American politician, lawyer, and novelist who served as Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
A member of the Democratic Party, she was her party’s nominee in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election.
Abrams was the first black female major-party gubernatorial nominee in the history of the United States.
In February 2019, Abrams became the first African-American woman to deliver a State of the Union response, in reaction to President Trump.”
apropos of my last post—this is what I was talking about. Stacey Abrams made a point to meet people where they were—not by validating views she disagreed with, but finding some common ground on which to get action done.