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RUSSIAN forces have blown up a huge dam on the frontline risking mass flooding and sending residents fleeing, Ukraine has claimed.
Kyiv has accused Vladimir Putin‘s troops of destroying the Kakhovka dam, located in the Russian-occupied part of southern Ukraine, on the Dnieper River, and called for locals to evacuate the area.
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The 30-meter Soviet-era dam forms the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station but also acts as the cooling system for the massive Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
A Ukrainian warning was issued to residents on the left bank of the Dnieper to “evacuate as soon as possible”.
“As a result of mining of the dam, there is an increase in the water level downstream.
“Water can reach a critical level in six hours.”
Footage circulating on social media shows a big part of the dam missing as water is pouring from its remains triggering fears of downstream flooding.
Ukrainian military officials confirmed the rupture in the dam in Russian-occupied territory and blamed Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry wrote on Telegram that the dam had been blown up, and called for residents of the ten villages on the sides of the river and parts of Kherson to flee.
“The Kakhovka (dam) was blown up by the Russian occupying forces,” the South command of Ukraine‘s Armed Forces said on its Facebook page.
“The scale of the destruction, the speed and volumes of water, and the likely areas of inundation are being clarified.”
The Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin said on a Telegram video that the Russian army has committed yet another act of terror, and warned that water will reach critical levels within five hours.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that the Russians must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land.”
He called an emergency meeting of his national security council following the dam’s explosion.
Meanwhile, Russian sources blamed Ukraine with Moscow- appointed Vladimir Leontyev, head of the occupation administration in the Novokakhovka district of the Kherson region, confirming the upper part of the dam was destroyed.
He said: “At about 2 am, numerous strikes were carried out on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
“As a result, water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably be discharged downstream.”
Other sources said there had been an “explosion” at 2:35am after which the destruction of the dam occurred within an hour.
Yet an eyewitness – while confirming the break in the dam – denied shelling.
He said on video: “This is what remains of (Kakhovka) HPP (Hydro Power Plant).
“There was no shelling, it was washed away by water.
“My Motorola [walkie-talkie] was left there, and half of my other belongings .”
Previous estimates have suggested that a break in the dam would cause “catastrophe on a grand scale” Zelensky has said.
Potentially hundreds of thousands of people would be in danger of flooding – including Kherson.
A vast area depends on the reservoir for its water supply.
An explosion on the dam in November 2022 caused damage but not enough to open the floodgates.
At the time, pro-Russian Colonel Cassad Telegram channel said: “Damage to the dam of the [Nova Kakhovka] hydropower plant.
“So far, there is not enough damage for a large flood, but in the course of subsequent hostilities, it cannot be ruled out that it will be [finished off].”
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Aliki Kraterou
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