In Russia-controlled Ukraine, thousands of people are being evacuated from areas downstream of a large dam that has collapsed. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, 80 towns and villages could be inundated as a result of Russia's destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. A catastrophic risk of flooding is reportedly present for the city of Kherson as water is flowing down the Dnipro River.
Dam was vital for Southern Ukraine
Russia, which controls the dam, has denied destroying it and has accused Ukraine of bombarding it instead. A BBC report claimed that it has not independently verified the claims made by Ukraine or Russia. The enormous Kakhovka reservoir is downstream from the Kakhovka dam, which is vital to the area.
It supplies water to locals, farms, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It serves as a crucial water conduit for the Crimean Peninsula, which is governed by Russia. The administrator of Ukraine's state-owned hydropower facilities Ukrhydroenergo issued a warning, predicting that the water spill's climax would occur Wednesday morning as a result of the reservoir's impending emptying. This, it added, would be followed by a time of "stabilisation," after which the water level would quickly drop in four to five days.
Concerns linger about Zaporizhzhia
The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia, is under concern because it uses reservoir water for cooling. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claims that the situation there is under control and that there is "no immediate nuclear safety risk" for the plant.
The mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, who was installed by Moscow, said that the city was under water and that 900 residents had been evacuated off the riverbank. He said that the government had dispatched 53 evacuation buses to transport residents of the city and two other surrounding communities to safety.
He stated that some individuals had been transported to the hospital and that the water level had increased to about 11m (36ft). Although the cause of the dam rupture in the early hours of Tuesday is not yet known, Ukraine's military intelligence has charged Russia with intentionally blowing it up.
