MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it strongly condemns the "destruction by Ukraine's armed forces of the Kakhovka HPP [Hydroelectric Power Plant], which has led to a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster."
"The Russian side is initiating an investigation into this crime of the Kiev regime within the UN Security Council, the regulatory and decision-making bodies of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe], and other international organizations," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
"Blowing up the dam" has caused towns and villages to be flooded, left thousands of people in need of evacuation, wreaked havoc on agriculture and the Dnieper river's ecosystem, and will disrupt water supplies to Crimea and ruin the farmland amelioration system in the Kherson region, the ministry said.
What happened was an "act of terror directed against purely civilian infrastructure, [which] was planned in advance and intentionally for military goals as part of the so-called 'Ukrainian counter-offensive'," it said.
The international community must "condemn the criminal acts of the Ukrainian authorities," the Russian ministry said.