Massive flood expected after a key dam in Ukraine blown up. The latest casualty in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a dam at the Kakhovka hydropower plant in southern Ukraine, with both countries accusing the other of the attack. The dam’s failure has caused flooding in the war zone.
Massive flood after key dam in Ukraine blown up, Here’re 10 facts on this big story:
1- On Tuesday, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration called the blast an “ecocide” committed by Russian forces. Ukraine was blamed by Russia for the incident.
2- Authorities in Ukraine have stated that the water could reach critical levels within the next five hours. “Water will reach critical levels in five hours,” said regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin in a video posted to his Telegram channel.
3- Ten villages on the Dnipro’s western bank, as well as a portion of Kherson, are at risk of flooding, and residents have been urged to prepare for evacuation.
4- Unverified social media videos showed water surging through the dam’s remains, with bystanders expressing their shock, sometimes in strong language. Water levels rose by meters in just a few hours.
5- President Volodymyr Zelensky has summoned Ukraine’s national security and defense council for an urgent meeting on the attack.
6- The Kakhovka dam, seized at the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, notably supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
7- The reservoir also serves as a cooling source for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the dam failure posed no immediate threat to nuclear safety at the plant, but it was closely monitoring the situation.
8- “Multiple strikes targeted the Kakhovka dam” overnight in Nova Kakhovka, the head of the city’s Moscow-backed administration, Vladimir Leontiev said, claiming they had destroyed the dam’s gate valves and caused an “uncontrollable” flow of water.
9- It is not clear yet how the flood waters would affect Ukraine’s long-planned counter-offensive against Russian forces who are dug in across southern and eastern Ukraine.
10- The structure was built on the Dnipro River in 1956, during the Soviet era, and is made of concrete and earth. It is one of Ukraine’s largest pieces of infrastructure of its kind.
Also read: Russian forces blew up Nova Kakhovka dam in Kherson
