Erdogan offers Zelenskyy to launch joint commission with Russians to investigate Kakhovka dam explosion

He said this to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a telephone conversation, Erdogan's office reports.

According to the Turkish leader, a commission involving experts from Ukraine, Turkey, the UN, the international community, and Russia may be set up to "investigate the explosion at the Kakhovka dam in detail."

Erdogan noted that Turkey is "ready to do everything possible for the investigation" and negotiations.

"As the conflicts continue, it will not be possible to prevent the human losses that occur every day, and therefore the idea of returning to negotiations should prevail. We will resolutely continue our efforts to establish a just peace," the Turkish president's office said in a statement.

Following the conversation with Zelensky, Erdogan decided to call Russian President Vladimir Putin, his office reports.

"President Erdogan said it was important that a comprehensive investigation into the Kakhovka dam explosion be conducted in a way that leaves no room for suspicion," the statement reads.

Erdogan also told Putin about the possibility of creating a joint commission with the participation of experts from Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey.

The politicians also discussed the need to remove obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilisers.

On June 6, Russian occupation forces blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, completely destroying it. Evacuation of residents of dangerous areas began, and the President of Ukraine convened an emergency meeting of the Security and Defense Council. 

Explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station

On June 6, occupying Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, completely destroying it. The evacuation of residents of the flooded areas began. After that, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy convened an emergency meeting of the Security and Defense Council, and the world began to respond to the tragedy. Follow the detailed course of events here.

In particular, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has allocated UAH 1.5 billion to build two new water mains that will help supply Kryvyi Rih, Nikopol and Marhanets with drinking water. In addition, the Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions were allocated almost UAH 846 million to meet the regions' drinking water needs.

And a number of Ukrainian cities have declared their readiness to accept southerners.

Instead, Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev, commander of the AFU Joint Forces, said that the occupiers' blowing up of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant would not affect the Ukrainian counteroffensive. And the Kyiv HPP is covered from air strikes and protected from enemy subversive reconnaissance groups.

For his part, Ukrhydroenergo CEO Ihor Syrota said that the peak of the water spill from the Kakhovka reservoir is expected in the morning of June 7. According to him, after that the situation will begin to stabilize, and in 4-5 days the water will start to subside.

And the President of Ukraine held a meeting of the supreme military command to discuss the situation at the front, readiness for a counteroffensive, and the Russian explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. He emphasized that Russia had mined the dam of the hydroelectric power plant last year, and Ukraine was ready for the explosion.

In addition, Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the consequences of the hydroelectric power plant explosion and the risks to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with the IAEA Director General and invited him to Ukraine.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy has estimated that about 10,000 hectares of agricultural land on the right bank will be flooded as a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP.

On the evening of June 6, the UN Security Council met to discuss the situation that arose after Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station dam. Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said that by blowing up the hydroelectric power plant, the Russians had proved that they were unable to hold the temporarily occupied territories. In turn, the UN Under-Secretary-General emphasized that the explosion of the hydroelectric power plant would have far-reaching consequences for many thousands of people.

US President Joe Biden also responded to the tragedy. He assured of his support and assistance to Ukraine.