(Dan Tri) – Russia and Ukraine still blame each other for the destruction of the hydroelectric dam on the Dnipro River, and warn that the tragedy will affect thousands of people.
Satellite photo of Nova Kakhovka dam in Kherson (Photo: Maxar).
The Nova Kakhovka Dam located on the upper reaches of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine broke on the morning of June 6.
Ukraine’s Ukrhydroenergo company, which is responsible for operating the Kakhovka dam and the hydroelectric plant of the same name, confirmed that both the dam and the hydroelectric plant `were completely destroyed by an engine room explosion from the inside`.
The Nova Kakhovka Dam is the source of water for the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, an area currently under Russian control.
The strategic hydroelectric dam in Kherson collapsed (Source: RT).
Both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of blowing up the Nova Kakhovka dam this morning.
`The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam is the largest man-made disaster in the world in recent decades, destroying the environment and negatively affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the coming years,` Andriy Yermak,
Anton Gerashchenko, a former minister and adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, estimated that about 16,000 people could be affected by flooding following the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse.
`The Russian army has committed another terrorist act. They blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant. The water level will rise to dangerous levels in 5 hours. The process of evacuating people in dangerous areas has already begun.`
Mr. Prokudin urged people living along the east bank of the Dnipro River to `leave the dangerous area immediately.`
Vladimir Leontiev, the Russian-appointed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, called the destruction of the Kakhovka dam a `serious terrorist attack`.
`At 2 o’clock, continuous attacks were launched against the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, destroying the valves. As a result, water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to flow downstream uncontrollably,`
Renat Karchaa, advisor to the General Director of the Russian Nuclear Energy Corporation Rosenergoatom, previously warned that if the Nova Kakhovka dam broke, the power lines supplying the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine would be flooded.
Location of Kakhovka dam in Kherson (Photo: DW).
The International Atomic Energy Agency today announced that its experts are `closely monitoring the situation` following the collapse of the Kakhovka dam.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam shows that Russians `must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian territory`.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal warned that the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam `risks causing an environmental disaster` for the southern region.
The breach of the Kakhovka Dam could create a giant `wall of water`, causing residential areas towards Kherson province, southern Ukraine to be flooded.
Kherson province in southern Ukraine is considered an important link in Russia’s strategy to establish a land corridor from the Crimean peninsula to Eastern and Southern Ukraine.