Key takeaways:
- Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine they control.
- The dam’s failure could unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where hundreds of thousands of people live.
- Ukraine has ordered residents downriver to evacuate, and it is expected that a significant number of people have been affected by the flooding.
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine they control, threatening a massive flood that could displace hundreds of thousands of people.
The Reuters news agency cites Ukraine’s military intelligence agency as saying that the occupiers blew up the dam in a panic, which they have labeled an obvious act of terrorism and a war crime.
Ukrainian authorities have warned that the dam’s failure could unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where hundreds of thousands of people live.
The Russian news agency Tass quoted an unspecified Russian government official as saying the dam had “collapsed” due to damage. Moscow-installed authorities in the region claimed the dam was partially destroyed by “multiple strikes” overnight, unleashing an “uncontrollable” flow of water, according to Agence France-Presse.
In response to the incident, Ukraine has ordered residents downriver to evacuate. It is unclear how many people have been affected by the flooding, but it is expected to be a significant number.
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