Kakhovka HPP destruction: Greenpeace names conditions for The Hague trial

Greenpeace International Senior Legal Advisor Daniel Simons told Ukrinform.

"There is an active campaign to recognize "ecocide" as an international crime, but the international community has not yet reached an agreement on this. However, Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) criminalizes the intentional commission of an attack knowing that it will cause "widespread, prolonged and severe damage to the natural environment which is manifestly excessive in relation to a specific and directly anticipated overall military advantage." Thus, a war crimes trial in The Hague may be possible under existing legal provisions if there is evidence that specific individuals ordered the destruction of the dam," he said.

"There may be other accountability mechanisms, we have not explored all the possibilities yet," Simons added.

• On June 6, Russian troops blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. On the same day, acting Director General of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" Yuriy Bolokhovets reported that 55,000 hectares of forest were threatened with flooding as a result.

• Turkish President Recep Erdogan proposed to investigate the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP with the participation of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey representatives.

• On June 9, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said that it was impossible to investigate the Kakhovka HPP under occupation.