A large dam located in a Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine has been blown up by Russian forces, according to Ukraine’s military.
“The Russian army committed another act of terror,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Ukrainian-appointed military administration of the Kherson region, in a video on Telegram.
“He blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. The water will reach a critical level in five hours. Evacuation in the danger area has already begun.”
“All services are working,” added Prokudin, urging residents along the east bank of the Dnipro River to “leave dangerous areas immediately”.
A drone video emerged on Monday (5) showing a deluge of water gushing from a sizable breach in the dam.
Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command confirmed the dam’s destruction on Tuesday in a post on its official Facebook, saying it was assessing the scale of the destruction and calculating likely flood areas.
A senior Russian-installed official in occupied southern Ukraine, Mayor Vladimir Leontiev, acknowledged on Tuesday that night strikes had destroyed parts of the Nova Kakhovka dam – reversing his earlier comments that no damage had been done.
Leontiev said the dam attack was “a serious terrorist attack”, Russian state media TASS reported.
“Around 2am there were a series of repeated attacks on HPP Kakhovka [usina hidrelétrica]who destroyed the ‘honors’ [válvulas de gaveta], as they are called in common parlance. As a result, water from the Kakhovka reservoir started pouring downstream uncontrollably,” Leontiev said, according to TASS.
Earlier on Tuesday, Leontiev denied that the dam had collapsed in an interview with Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, calling it “absurd”.
Ukraine’s military accused Russia of blowing up the dam.
Civilian evacuation
Police and emergency teams are on alert to evacuate civilians from possible flood zones as water gushes from the dam, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.
With the water level rising, the ministry urged everyone in the “danger zone” to turn off all electrical appliances, take documents and essentials and take care of “loved ones and pets”.
According to the ministry, the “danger zone” includes the villages of Mykolaivka, Olhivka, Liovo, Tiahynka, Poniativka, Ivanivka, Tokarivka, Poniativka, Prydniprovske, Sadove and the Korabel Island district of the city of Kherson.
“Trust the police, rescue teams and our defenders,” the ministry said in its statement. “The enemy is trying to spread disinformation, to absolve himself of responsibility for another crime.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council following the destruction of the New Kakhovka dam, council secretary Oleksii Danilov said on Tuesday.
“Ecocide”
A senior Ukrainian official called the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam “ecocide” in a statement Tuesday morning.
“The Russians will be responsible for the possible deprivation of drinking water for people in the south of the Kherson region and Crimea, the possible destruction of some settlements and the biosphere,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President’s Cabinet, said in Telegram . .
“This is ecocide,” he added. “The safety of people is a priority today. We must ensure that the enemy is punished at the international level.”
Water levels in the destroyed Nova Kakhovka dam are expected to reach “critically high” levels around 11:00 am local time, Oleksandr Samoylenko, head of the Kherson regional council, said on national television.
“The water is rising. We see partial flooding of settlements. In fact, the flow of the river has increased,” said Samoylenko.
The city of Kherson will be particularly affected, according to Samoylenko, noting that some parts in the lowlands of the Dnipro and Inhulets rivers will also be affected.
Samoylenko added that hospitals are on alert and anyone who needs to be evacuated will be.
the hydroelectric plant
The Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant were “totally destroyed as a result of the engine room exploding from the inside,” Ukraine’s main hydroelectric generation company Ukrhydroenergo said on Tuesday.
Ukrhydroenergo said the plant “cannot be restored” and claimed that “Russian forces blew up” the dam overnight.
Authorities are rushing to evacuate residents of the flood zones and assess the level of damage.
Water levels are rapidly dropping and the reservoir is expected to be drained within the next four days, the company said.
Impact on nuclear power plant: Ukrhydroenergo also said in a statement that “the uncontrolled decline in the level of the reservoir is an additional threat to the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia [usina nuclear]”.
The nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, is maintained by Russian forces but mainly operated by a Ukrainian workforce.
The statement said the plant uses water from the reservoir for turbine condensers and safety systems, with the cooling pond “now full”. The plant’s Ukrainian team “is monitoring all indicators,” he said.
(With information from Josh Pennington, Irene Nasser and Olga Yoitovych)
Source: CNN Brasil
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