MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba argues that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's proposal for creating an international commission to investigate the bombing of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant's dam is a giveaway game with Russia.
In telephone conversations with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky on Wednesday Erdogan suggested creating an international commission to investigate the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam explosion. In his opinion, the commission should include representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN.
"We are just fed up with their constant game of quasi-justice. It is absolutely clear who is who. To try to make everyone believe that Ukraine blew something up there? Give me a break, dear all. We have already had this kind of experience. It's all a giveaway game with the Russians," he said on the Breakfast program on the Ukrainian TV channel 1+1, while commenting on the Turkish leader’s initiative.
In the morning of June 6, the Ukrainian military launched a missile attack on the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant, which resulted in the destruction of gate sluice valves at the HPP’s dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. In nearby Novaya Kakhovka, the level of the reservoir reached 12 meters, but the water is currently receding. According to emergency services, there are 35 communities in the flood zone, and residents of nearby villages are being evacuated. Five people are reported to have died and more than 40 taken to the hospital.
The destruction of the hydro power plant has caused serious environmental damage with farm fields along the Dnieper River being washed away. As well, there is a risk that the North Crimean Canal may run low and become too shallow.
Earlier, Peskov described the strike on the Kakhovka dam as an act of deliberate sabotage by Ukrainian forces, adding that the Kiev regime should bear all of the responsibility for its consequences.