Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said it summoned Belgium’s ambassador to protest what it said was the use of “Belgian weapons” by pro-Ukraine militants that attacked Russian territory last month.
Russia has complained before that Ukrainian sabotage groups have used Western weapons to wage attacks on its territory.
Ukraine evacuates over 17,000 people from flooded areas
Ukraine’s prosecutor general on Tuesday said 17,000 people were being evacuated from flooded areas after the partial destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
“Over 40,000 people are in danger of being flooded. Ukrainian authorities are evacuating over 17,000 people,” Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, said on social media, adding that 25,000 more people should be evacuated on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro River.
US cannot determine cause of dam breach, says White House
The White House on Tuesday said it could not say conclusively what caused the destruction of a massive dam in Ukraine, but was assessing reports that the blast was caused by Russia, which has been occupying the dam since last year.
Spokesman John Kirby said it was clear that the destruction of the dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine had likely caused “many deaths” and the evacuation of thousands of Ukrainians.
Kirby told reporters the damage could have a devastating impact on Ukraine’s energy security.
“We’ve seen the reports that Russia was responsible for the explosion at the dam,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can to assess those reports, and we are working with the Ukrainians to gather more information, but we cannot say conclusively what happened.”
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