RPT - Paris, Prague Intend To Deliver Aid To Ukraine Over Kakhovka Dam Breach - Top Officials

PARIS/PRAGUE/RIO DE JANEIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2023) French President Emmanuel Macron and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday that Paris and Prague were planning to deliver their aid to Ukraine following the partial destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP)

"I expressed to (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelensky my solidarity with the Ukrainian people after the attack on the Kakhovka dam. France condemns this atrocious act, which is endangering populations. Within the next few hours, we will send aid to meet immediate needs," Macron said on Twitter.

Czech newspaper Lidovky quoted Fiala as saying that Prague "decided to provide aid to Ukraine" in connection with the dam breach and that "the Ministry of Defense will deliver some things to Ukraine that are just now necessary to overcome the problems associated with this disaster."

The Czech aid would include lifebuoy rings and life vests, water pumps and means of delivery of drinking water, the media reported.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Prague would allocate 10 million koruny ($430,000) in aid to Ukraine.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Brasilia was ready to assist in mitigating the consequences of the Kakhovka dam breach.

"The Brazilian government is ready to cooperate, including with relevant international organizations, to mitigate the consequences of the incident. In addition, it considers it necessary that, with the involvement of an impartial and independent international organization, those responsible for the episode be identified," the ministry said.

The upper part of the Kakhovka HPP on the Dnipro River was damaged overnight from Monday to Tuesday. It was not destroyed completely, but its crumbling caused an uncontrollable outflow of water to towns downstream. Moscow and Kiev have blamed each other for the dam's destruction. Authorities in some of the affected areas have started evacuating the population.

The Nova Kakhovka dam is the sixth and last stage of the cascade of Dnipro hydroelectric power plants located 5 kilometers from the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson Region, which became part of Russia through a referendum in September 2022.