As I am currently writing, it is now a few days after forces of the Kremlin set off an explosion at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric plant in occupied Eastern Ukraine. My friends have already reached out to me about the chaos that began last night, for Kharkiv, two S-300 rockets landed in civilian areas, and fortunately, without any casualties. The first explosion was some ways away, sobered me up just a bit, and the following one was much closer, bringing all of my drowned senses back to reality.
Phone calls were made, friends were all safe, and we began talking about how all of this could have been prevented since Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution in 2014 where protesters clashed with government forces of the Russian backed president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, eventually ousting him to the Russian Federation. The reason for this protest was over the population’s desire and increasing interest into integrating into European ideology, detaching from the Russian Federation. It was after this monumental moment that the Kremlin invaded and occupied Crimea, all the while, preparing for an absolute invasion of Ukraine.
Over the course of the conflict stemming from 2014, the loss of civilian, animal, and environmental sanctity through bombings, indiscriminate strikes, vehicular and small arms fire, is insurmountable, no court has the capacity or willingness to prosecute these war crimes to the fullest extent, there will never be justice for what Ukraine has endured.
To put it into perspective, there are the same number of Ukrainian refugees as the population of both Alabama and Mississippi combined, over 8 million people have fled the country, thousands of civilians have been killed, many have been victims of violence and sexual assault, 25% of arable land in Ukraine is contaminated from a plethora of toxins of war with this percentage increasing on a daily basis, and the terrestrial and aquatic loss of flora and fauna cannot be understated.
What happened at Nova Kakhovka is overwhelmingly the most tragic man-made disaster to have taken place on the European continent since the Chernobyl NPP incident in April of 1986, both caused by the same ruling state. Now that the hydroelectric plant is greatly damaged, tens of thousands of more people and animals have been displaced, and there is an increasing concern over the Zaporizhzia NPP which relied upon the Kakhovka reservoir to maintain its security.
Everywhere I travel throughout Ukraine, pro-European billboards can be seen dotting the highways, EU flags are flown on buildings, and in the cabs of taxis and near the front windshield of drivers of public transportation. What this genocide against the Ukrainian people is doing, is uniting the vast majority of the population and steering them more closely towards Western alliance, the exact opposite of the desired outcome of Vladimir Putin.
As of now, volunteers have been working diligently to evacuate those people and animals whose homes have been flooded because of this explosion at the dam in Kakhovka. While I do not have the means to currently travel to this region, I am striving in my goal to get to the point where I am able to lend a hand without relying on others for transportation.
*Photos by Ivan Huz and Kateryna Krokha. Videos by Ivan Huz.
About the Author: Scott Urquart is originally from Anniston and currently living in the Ukraine. He will be covering some of the special needs happening in Ukraine specifically for the Calhoun Journal. To learn more about his background please visit our introductory article “From Anniston to the Ukraine”
