AMSTERDAM, June 16 (Reuters) - It is "highly likely" that the collapse of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was caused by explosives planted by Russians, a team of legal experts assisting Ukraine's prosecutors in their investigation said in preliminary findings released on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of destroying the Kakhovka dam as a Western-backed tactic to escalate the conflict.
Ukraine is investigating the blast as a war crime and possible criminal environmental destruction, or "ecocide".
"Even in the highly unlikely scenario the dam, or indeed the area nearby, posed a valid military objective commensurate with eviscerating the dam, it is still afforded an elevated protection under international humanitarian law," she said.
The ICC, the world's permanent war crimes tribunal, is also investigating the attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure, which may violate international law.
Persons:
Vladimir Putin, Yousuf Syed Khan, Khan, Catriona Murdoch, Anthony Deutsch, Philippa Fletcher
Organizations:
Global Rights, International Criminal, Reuters, ICC, Thomson
Locations:
AMSTERDAM, Ukraine, Soviet, Kherson