Kakhovka dam burst causing ecological catastrophe in Ukraine: NATO chief

Stoltenberg speaks with Ukrainian FM, who will virtually join NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting on Thursday

GENEVA:

NATO chief on Wednesday called the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine "outrageous which is displacing thousands of people and causing an ecological catastrophe in Ukraine."

Jens Stoltenberg, on Twitter, said he spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba over the destruction of the dam, adding that Kuleba will virtually join allied ambassadors in a NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting which he will chair on Thursday.

An emergency was announced on both sides of the dam after the burst – one side is controlled by Russia, another by Ukraine.

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Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday accused each other of damaging the Kakhovka dam, which led to the flooding of the neighboring settlements.

Moscow accused Ukraine of attempting to cut Crimea off the freshwater it receives from the Kakhovka Reservoir, formed by the dam, while Kyiv claimed that Russia tries to slow an expected counteroffensive.