UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy has met Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and prominent European figures, including former Irish president Mary Robinson, who are forming a working group to address ecological damage from the Russian invasion.

Thunberg denounced the ecological havoc caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lack of international reaction to the disaster.

“Ecocide and environmental destruction is a form of warfare … as Ukrainians by this point know all too well – and so does Russia,” Thunberg said during a press conference.

“And that’s why they are deliberately targeting the environment and people’s livelihoods and homes and therefore also destroying lives…”.
The meeting in the Ukrainian capital came as fighting continued around the country.

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in the southern region of Kherson on 6 June flooded huge swathes of the Kherson region. The disaster killed dozens of people and forced thousands of others to flee.

Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up the dam, which was under Moscow’s control, while the Kremlin insists that it was Kyiv that shelled the Soviet-era structure. Each side has blamed the other for the disaster.

Zelensky has criticised what he says is the lack of an adequate international response to the disaster.

“I do not think that the world reaction to this ecocide is sufficient,” said Thunberg. “I don’t think any reaction could be sufficient.

“So I guess we need to make more room for people who are affected by these catastrophes to tell their stories and to share information about what’s happening on the ground.”

“We must do everything we can to speak out about this and to try to spread awareness and share information about what is happening.”

There are also fears over the risk of a disaster at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power station, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, which is currently under Russian control.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has repeatedly warned of the dangers of a major accident there.

The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said two people were killed in the region’s capital in a Russian strike that hit residences, a medical facility and a school where residents were lined up to receive humanitarian aid.

Another person was killed in a morning strike on the village of Bilzoerka, the regional prosecutor’s office said.

The presidential office said this morning that at least eight civilians died in Russian attacks during the previous 24 hours.

Zelenskyy also met former US vice president Mike Pence who visited Kyiv. Pence, an advocate of US support to Ukraine, is running for the 2024 Republican nomination for president.

“We appreciate that both major US parties, the Republican and Democratic, remain united in their support for Ukraine. And, of course, we feel the strong support of the people of the United States,” Zelenskyy told Pence, according to the presidential website.

The working group on the environment includes Ms Thunberg, former Swedish deputy prime minister Margot Wallstrom, European Parliament vice president Heidi Hautala, and former Irish president Mary Robinson.

Zelenskyy said forming the group is “a very important signal of supporting Ukraine. It’s really important, we need your professional help”.

Thunberg said Russian forces “are deliberately targeting the environment and people’s livelihoods and homes. And therefore also destroying lives. Because this is after all a matter of people”.

The objectives of the working group are evaluating the environmental damage resulting from the war, formulating mechanisms to hold Russia accountable, and undertaking efforts to restore Ukraine’s ecology.

In Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill met Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican envoy for seeking peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Kirill, a supporter of the war, said: “It is very important that the Christian communities of East and West take part in the process of reconciliation,” according to video circulated by the Russian church.