Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station, threatening a ‘catastrophic’ flood that could displace hundreds of thousands of people and cause a nuclear disaster by cutting off cooling to a nuclear power plant.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry confirmed this morning that the Kakhovka dam over the Dnieper river in the south of the country was damaged in an explosion and water had begun flooding through.
The ministry called for residents of 10 villages on the river’s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson downriver to evacuate their homes.
Ukrainian authorities have previously 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 towns and settlements, home to hundreds of thousands of people.
Environmental security expert Maksym Soroka warned the potential damage the flooding could cause ‘can easily be compared to [an] atomic bomb explosion’, given the devastation that could occur if the dam is broken completely.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will now urgently convene his Security Council on Tuesday after the explosion at the dam which provides vital cooling at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The explosion at the dam has sparked concerns of a possible meltdown at the plant if the reactors cannot be cooled.
As tens of thousands of Ukrainians flee their homes and the potential for nuclear disaster ramps up…
- Ukraine’s state hydroelectric company said the Kakhovka plant was totally destroyed by an engine room blast
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said separately that up to 80 settlements were at risk of flooding
- Pictures and videos on social media show that towns close to Kherson have already been overrun by floods
- Kyiv officials alleged that Moscow destroyed the dam in order to slow down its long-awaited counteroffensive
- Zelensky said that Russian forces must be ‘expelled from every corner’ of his nation for their ‘terrorist actions’
- Moscow meanwhile has blamed Kyiv’s forces for the strikes on the dam which is in Russian-held territory
A drone camera showed the extent of the flooding – water is seen flowing over the top of the damaged dam
A satellite image shows Nova Khakovka Damn in Kherson region, Ukraine June 5, 2023
Images and video from the scene appear to show the dam has been damaged, with Ukraine blaming Russia
There are warnings of possible major flooding which could displace hundreds of thousands of people
This graphic shows the potentially catastrophic flooding that could occur if the dam is completely destroyed
An explosion is seen at the destroyed Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, 6 June 2023
The Kakhovka Hydroelectric power plant was totally destroyed by the blasts
Flooding begins in the occupied Kherson and Kherson region after the destruction of Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant
The remains of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant are seen in these images following several explosions
Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of targeting the dam with attacks, and last October Zelensky predicted that Russia would destroy the dam in order to cause a flood.
The dam and the hydroelectric power station were captured by Putin’s forces as a priority at the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 last year. Russian officials claimed the dam was attacked by Ukrainian military strikes.
Zelensky meanwhile said that Russian forces ‘must be expelled from every corner’ of his country in the wake of the supposed attack.
Kyiv officials alleged that Moscow destroyed the dam in order to slow down its long-awaited counteroffensive.
‘The terrorists’ goal is obvious – to create obstacles for the offensive actions of the armed forces,’ Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said.
‘Kakhovka hydroelectric plant. Another war crime committed by Russian terrorists. The president has convened the National Security Council,’ Yermak wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s state hydroelectric company declared that a detonation inside the engine room of the plant had ‘totally destroyed’ the machinery and warned the plant could not be salvaged.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said separately that up to 80 settlements were at risk of flooding after what he described as the destruction of the station’s dam by Russian forces.
Environmental security expert Maksym Soroka explained why the flooding could be so disastrous.
‘Everyone should understand that one cubic metre of water weighs a ton: imagine the amount of water in a metre-by-metre cube: that’s one ton. Dams contain a huge mass of water, millions of tons,’ Soroka told Rubryka, a Ukrainian news publication.
‘Force is mass multiplied by acceleration, and when that mass accelerates, we have a force of thousands of kilotons, and these forces are enough to destroy concrete. The devastating consequences become catastrophic.’
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘It’s too early for me to make a meaningful assessment of the details of what’s happened… but it’s worth remembering that the only reason that this is an issue at all is because of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.’
EU chief Charles Michel meanwhile pledged to hold Russia accountable for the ‘war crime’ of destroying civilian infrastructure.
‘Shocked by the unprecedented attack of the Nova Kakhovka dam. The destruction of civilian infrastructure clearly qualifies as a war crime – and we will hold Russia and its proxies accountable,’ European Council chief Michel wrote on social media.
Michel, the head of the body that brings together EU leaders, said he would propose ‘more assistance to the flooded areas’ at their next summit in Brussels this month.
Footage from what appeared to be a monitoring camera overlooking the dam appears to show an explosion which weakened the wall of the dam and saw water begin to flood through the cracks.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in a video posted to Telegram shortly before 7am that ‘the Russian army has committed yet another act of terror,’ and warned that water will reach ‘critical levels’ within five hours.
The Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka Vladimir Leontyev said that numerous strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant destroyed its valves, and ‘water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably flow downstream.’
Leontyev said the strikes were ‘a very serious terrorist act’ said Moscow-appointed authorities are ‘preparing for the worst consequences’ – though stopping short of urging an evacuation of city residents.
Not only is the dam responsible for powering the now destroyed Kakhovka hydroelectric plant and cooling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, but it provides drinking water for much of northern Crimea.
The Russian-backed governor of the annexed peninsula said there is now a risk that water levels in the North Crimea Canal, which carries fresh water to the peninsula from the river, could fall in the coming days – though added that reserves were sufficient for the moment.
Ukraine’s state hydroelectric company declared that a detonation inside the engine room of the plant had ‘totally destroyed’ the machinery and warned the plant could not be salvaged
The dam and nearby power plant have been attacked in an ‘act of terror’, top Ukrainian officials have claimed
The dam has allegedly been blown up by Russian forces, threatening at least ten nearby villages
Hundreds of thousands of people could be affected by flooding and be forced to leave their homes
Beavers pictured on the streets of Kherson as flooding begins in the occupied Kherson and Kherson region after the destruction of Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant
The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was pictured in pieces on social media on Tuesday
The dam, pictured here before damage, could unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water
Ukraine says Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant has also been destroyed by Russian troops
Ukrainian soldiers fire at the Russian air target on the frontline near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, June 5, 2023 (Iryna Rybakova via AP)
Ukraine’s state atomic power agency said the destruction of the dam by Russian forces in southern Ukraine poses a threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but the situation at the facility is under control.
‘Water from the Kakhovka Reservoir is necessary for the station to receive power for turbine capacitors and safety systems of the ZNPP,’ Energoatom said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
‘Right now the station’s cooling pond is full: as of 8:00 a.m., the water level is 16.6 meters, which is sufficient for the station’s needs.’
‘Currently, the situation at the ZNPP is under control, Ukrainian personnel are monitoring all indicators,’ it said.
Authorities, experts and residents have for months expressed concerns about water flows through and over the Kakhovka dam, which lies just 37 miles east of the regional capital Kherson.
Last year, Zelensky claimed Putin’s forces had mined the hydroelectric power plant and planned to blow it up it in a bid to cover their retreat from the city of Kherson with a vast deluge of water – though this did not materialise.
In February, water levels were so low that many feared a meltdown at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, whose cooling systems are supplied with water from the Kakhovka reservoir held up by the dam.
By mid-May, after heavy rains and snow melt, water levels rose beyond normal levels, flooding nearby villages. Satellite images showed water washing over damaged sluice gates.
Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnieper River, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the entire country’s drinking water and power supply.