Satellite photo of the Noah Kahofka Dam breach (Photo: Reuters/Maxer).
The Pelorian hydroelectric dam was built during the Soviet Union and is located in the area Peninsula (Southern Ukraine) controlled by Russian armed forces “exploded” on Tuesday, leaking a large amount of water, according to the warring sides, who blame each other for destroying critical infrastructure.
Videos circulating on social media – which cannot be verified at this time – show extremely powerful explosions at the dam in Nova Kahovka on the Dnieper River. Other videos show large volumes of water gushing out of the dam’s ruins, shocking onlookers.
Ukrainian officials are talking about a tsunami-like situation that could hit residential areas.
This dam, thirty meters high and 3.2 kilometers long, was built on the Dnieper in 1956 as part of the construction of a hydroelectric station at Nova Kakhovka.
The huge Khakovka Dam across the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine has been blown up.
Flooding could inundate areas downstream and endanger parts of Kherson (controlled by Ukraine) and the nearby Zaporizhzhya power station (held by Russia). pic.twitter.com/wqDxzij0ns
— Max Seddon (@maxseddon) June 6, 2023
The second picture here shows the possible consequences of blowing up the Khakovka Dam, including placing a large part of Kherson – a city that Putin declared part of Russia nine months ago! – Under water https://t.co/lKYE8natIT
— Max Seddon (@maxseddon) June 6, 2023
Floods are expected to engulf several cities in the coming hours after the Khakovka dam in southern Ukraine broke. pic.twitter.com/qLHDou2fv6
— BNO News (@BNONews) June 6, 2023
Its reservoir contains 18 million cubic meters of water and from it the Crimean peninsula – annexed by Russia in 2014 – and the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, Europe’s largest, need an uninterrupted supply to cool its reactors.
A breach of the dam could flood the settlements below it, including Kherson, which Ukrainian forces recaptured in late 2022.
“The evacuation of communities in the area has already begun,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, Khersons regional governor. “Within five hours the water will reach a critical level,” Mr Brogudin warned by telegram at 06:45. [τοπική ώρα και ώρα Ελλάδας].
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, about 80 settlements will have to be evacuated, and at least 22,000 residents will be affected by the flooding.
The water level in the dam has risen by five meters, flooding islands in the river, new reports said.
The situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is under control
Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power company, Energoatom, reported on the situation and assessed that “it may have negative consequences for the nuclear power plant but the situation is under control.”
“Rapidly receding water level in the reservoir is an additional threat to the station. However, for now, the cooling pool of the nuclear power plant is full,” the company said.
Energoatom is monitoring the situation and monitoring the activities of workers at the ZNPP station in cooperation with other international organizations located at the station, in particular the IAEA.
Crossbreeds of Ukraine and Russia
Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential administration, wrote without elaborating on the Telegram messaging app that Russia’s actions also threaten the neighboring Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
In addition, Oleksii Danilov, secretary of Croatia’s National Security and Defense Council, said that President Zelensky would urgently convene the said council on Tuesday after the explosion at the Nova Kahovka hydroelectric dam.
“The [φράγμα στην] Khakovka was blown up by the Russian occupation forces,” the command of the southern division of the Ukrainian army said on Facebook. “The scale of the disaster, the speed and volume of the water, and the areas likely to be flooded are being clarified,” the same source added.
Mr. Zelensky himself said that the destruction of the dam in the Russian-controlled Kherson region “proves that the Russians must be expelled from every corner of Ukraine”.
According to officials close to Moscow who spoke to Russian news agencies, the dam was shelled by Ukrainians. An official stationed in Moscow in the region spoke of “a very serious act of terrorism”, terms that also refer to the Ukrainian attack.
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