Preliminary findings of an investigation led by international human rights and law firm Global Rights Compliance (GRC), have revealed that it is “highly likely” that Russian forces were responsible for the recent collapse of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine.
Based on seismic sensors, opensource research and data on previous attacks by Russia, the Starvation Mobile Justice Team has dismissed the theory that the catastrophic dam breach could have been caused by mismanagement alone. Evidence and analysis of the information available suggests that pre-emplaced explosives, positioned at critical points within the dam’s structure, were the cause of the dam’s destruction, the specialist team has said in a summary of their investigation’s initial findings. The collapse of the dam has wrought serious and widespread damage on the area local to the dam, and to an area up and downstream over 500,000 hectares in size. The rushing water has not only displaced thousands and destroyed the local environment, but also uprooted thousands of Russia-laden mines, further complicating rescue and relief efforts.
Global Rights Compliance’s Starvation Mobile Justice Team is made up of international and Ukrainian lawyers, military experts and OSINT researchers, based in Ukraine and ready to deploy at pace to the scene of a potential war crime to gather evidence. The first of its kind, the team is an innovation in legal support by the international human rights law firm.
The Communication Group plc supported the release of GRC’s preliminary investigation by executing a targeted media campaign designed to bring the world’s attention to the international human rights law firm’s work to investigate a possible war crime.
Online, print and broadcast media coverage was secured in some of the world’s best-known and widest-read news outlets, including Forbes, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, Reuters, The Evening Standard, Aljazeera, CNBC, Pershyi, The Scotsman and The Daily Express. A total of 82 individual pieces of media coverage were secured for Global Rights Compliance, equivalent to a total estimated reach of over 5.5 billion people.
