Key updates
- Map shows the Nova Kakhovka dam near the front line
- IAEA says ‘no immediate risk’ to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
A major dam and hydroelectric power plant in southern Ukraine have been destroyed, unleashing flooding near the front lines on Tuesday. As water gushed from the facility on the Dnieper River, which separates Ukrainian and Russian forces, officials on both sides ordered residents to evacuate. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency accused Russian forces of blowing up the Nova Kakhovka dam, while the Kremlin denied this and blamed “Ukrainian sabotage” for the damage. The world’s atomic energy watchdog warned the warring sides not to undermine the safety of the nearby nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, but said there was currently “no immediate risk” to it.
Here’s what to know
- Russia and Ukrainehave both previously accused each other of plotting to destroy the dam, which is in the hands of Russian forces in southern Ukraine and is the source of a canal delivering water south to the Crimean Penninsula.
- Aerial video on social media showed heavy damage to the dam. Sections measuring hundreds of feetappeared to be missing. The gaps in the structure were not present in satellite imagery taken June 5that was analyzed by The Washington Post.
- Ukrainian officials said the torrent of water left thousands of people at risk and complicated evacuation efforts. The interior ministry accused Russian forces of shelling in Kherson as residents tried to evacuate.
Map shows position of Nova Kakhovka dam on front line
The hydroelectric power plant is located on the Dnieper River, where it provides the only bridge between the river’s Ukrainian and Russian-controlled sides in the local area. The dam also controls the flow of water along a canal into Crimea, the peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Some 16,000 Ukrainians in ‘critical’ danger zones, governor says
By Adela Suliman and
The regional governor of Kherson, Oleksandr Prokudin, said Tuesday that an estimated 16,000 people are in what he described as “critical” danger zones on the right bank of Ukraine’s Dnipro river, at risk of flood impact, due to damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam.