The Russian-controlled city of Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region has refuted claims by the Ukrainian military that Russian forces were responsible for extensive damage to a massive dam in southern Ukraine.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command announced on Facebook that the Russian military had “blown up” the Kakhovka reservoir.
🚨#BREAKING: A Major Hydroelectric Power Dam has been blown up resulting of multiple towns evacuating ⁰
📌#KhersonOast | #UkraineWatch as Footage shows a major A hydroelectric power dam situated in the Kherson Oblast of southern Ukraine has been deliberately blown up,… pic.twitter.com/2ZapUQla7g
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) June 6, 2023
Military officials are “working to clarify the scope of the damage, the rate and amount of water, and the likely areas of inundation.”
The mayor of Novaya Kakhovka, headquartered in Moscow, was quoted by RIA Novosti, another Russian state news agency, as saying that shelling from Ukraine had damaged the dam.
As the water level in the Dnieper River rose after the dam was destroyed, the Ukrainian military administration for the Kherson region warned residents of several settlements on the river’s right bank to evacuate.
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Everyone in the flood zone should do the following as the water rises: disconnect all electrical appliances; gather essential papers and belongings; secure the safety of loved ones and pets; The government issued a warning via Telegram to “follow the instructions of the rescuers and policemen.”
Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said that President Volodymyr Zelensky had convened an emergency meeting of the country’s National Security Council in the wake of the dam explosion.
Russian terrorists. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land. Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror. It’s only… pic.twitter.com/ErBog1gRhH
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 6, 2023
Президент України Володимир Зеленський у зв’язку з підривом дамби Каховского водосховища прийняв рішення про проведення екстреного засідання РНБО Украіни.
— Oleksiy Danilov (@OleksiyDanilov) June 6, 2023
The Ukrainian and Russian armed forces have expressed concern that a Soviet-era dam in the area of Kherson currently under Russian control could cause flooding in the conflict zone.
An unverified video on social media showed a series of intense explosions around the Kakhovka Dam.
📡Moscow airports are functioning as usual following a drone attack that damaged several buildings in the capital city and the region, Russian state news agency TASS reported Tuesday.#Moscow #UkraineWillWin #Ukraine️ #RussiaUkraineWar https://t.co/4BboCs6y5U
— 101 Times (@june24news) May 30, 2023
In other footage, water was shown rushing through the broken remnants of the dam, with onlookers expressing disbelief and using colorful language to describe the scene.
The Kakhovka hydroelectric power facility, with a 30 m (about 98 ft) tall and 3.2 km (about 2 mi) long dam, was constructed on the Dnieper River in 1956.
The Dnipro River is vital for Ukraine’s drinking water and electricity supply because it runs from its northern border with Belarus to the Black Sea. Ukraine controls five of the six dams along this river. Russian soldiers have taken control of the Kakhovka dam, the most downstream of the three in the Kherson region.
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