A state of abject horror has befallen Ukrainian society following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam and the flooding of the Dnieper Delta with water from its reservoir.

The tragedy itself and the consequences of this terrorist act orchestrated by russia are only a part of the larger problem that Ukrainians are witnessing today. What most terrifies the Ukrainian people is the complete unpreparedness and indecisiveness of our allies in the face of this turn of events.

Ukraine’s perspective for nearly one and a half years, the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station was under the occupational control of the invaders. Since October 2022, the world has been made aware that Russia has rigged the Dam with demolition charges.

The threat of the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was repeatedly voiced by russia.

Today, after the dam’s destruction and the colossal ecological catastrophe, we ask ourselves: What political and military responses did our allies prepare for such an attack?

Did they prepare specific measures to expel russia from the United Nations Security Council for its repeated violations of the UN Charter and the Geneva Convention?

Perhaps Ukraine’s allies’ plans included supplying long-range weaponry and permitting strikes on russian territory to level the playing field?

And the most crucial question of all: Did these plans even exist?

One of the most dangerous consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka reservoir is that the cooling reservoirs for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant can no longer be replenished.

This could soon lead to a nuclear catastrophe at the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in a timeframe of no more than thirty days, placing a majority of European countries at risk of nuclear contamination.

It is fitting to recall the statements made by russian military officials regarding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Back in August 2022, Major General Vasilyev, the chief of the russian Armed Forces garrison, declared that the site of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant would “either be russian soil or scorched earth”, unmistakably threatening to the sabotage the plant in the event of a forced retreat.

It is already widely known that russia has been using the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as a storage site for ammunition and military equipment throughout its presence at the station.

And now, as russia is actually proceeding with its horrific plans, it is crucial for Ukrainian society to know whether our allies have formulated any response plans for these challenges posed by russia.

If these plans do exist, what do they entail? We have heard a lot about how if russia were to use nuclear weapons, the United States would respond. It has been claimed that this warning was communicated to the russian leadership through secret channels.

But… nothing has been officially disclosed. Why? Could it be to keep the ability to remain silent, to retain the option to not respond, as was the case with the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station?  Only one thing is evident: the conspicuous absence of military and political responses from the United States to the creation of the Kakhovka catastrophe only serves to provoke russia towards further, nuclear escalation.

Each of putin’s crimes that goes unpunished incites the next, even more terrifying crime. And while the consequences of the dam’s destruction primarily affect Ukrainian territory, the repercussions of a real nuclear catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant would extend to European countries as well. How much time remains for silence?

Andrii Voloshyn for Ukraine Front Lines

Instead of P.S.

Instead of P.S. Our President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in his evening address raised the same concern of “a plan of silence” that World prefers to follow in this human tragedy caused by the russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP.