Eco-activist Greta Thunberg met with Vladimir Zelensky in Kyiv

Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, as part of the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War, met in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelensky. This was reported on June 29, in particular, by the office of the Ukrainian leader.

Zelensky thanked the members of the group for the visit and spoke about the “catastrophic consequences of undermining the Kakhovskaya HPP dam.” “The president noted that as a result of the disaster, many people died in settlements occupied by Russian troops, where the Russians did not evacuate the flooded territories at all,” the message says.

Greta Thunberg, commenting earlier on the destruction of the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric station, called what happened an ecocide and the result of Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. During the trip, as noted, she promised to involve representatives of environmental public organizations to discuss the problems and challenges for the environment that arose as a result of the war.

In addition to Thunberg, the environmental working group that visited Ukraine includes former head of government and ex-minister of foreign affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström, vice-president of the European Parliament Haida Hautala, president of Ireland in 1990-1997 Mary Robinson, according to the publication of the Ukrainian Service of Radio Liberty.

At the same time, on June 29, it was reported about the trip to Ukraine of the former Vice President of the USA, Mike Pence, who announced his intention to run for the post of the head of the White House from the Republican Party in the 2024 elections. Unlike former US President Donald Trump, under whom Pence held the position of vice president and who also intends to run for a new term as head of state, Pence is considered a harsh critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and advocates further decisive support for Ukraine in connection with the Russian invasion Pence became the first candidate for the post of president of the USA from Republicans who met with Volodymyr Zelensky during the election campaign, writes Reuters.

• The territory of Kakhovskaya HPP is under the control of the Russian army. The destruction of the dam of the station occurred on the night of June 6. As a result of the flooding, settlements located on both banks of the Dnieper were flooded. According to the preliminary data of the Ukrainian authorities, the damage from the destruction of the hydroelectric power station amounts to at least one and a half billion dollars. It is still impossible to assess the ecological damage.
• According to the latest data, more than 20 people were killed in the right part of the Kherson region controlled by Ukraine. In the Russian-occupied part of the region, 46 people are considered dead. Several dozen people on both banks of the Dnieper are listed as missing. The real number of victims may be higher.