- Dam attack will have ‘same long-term effect’ as Chernobyl, warns NGO.
- Three killed in flooding in Kherson after dam collapse.
- Ukraine holds initiative along multiple sectors of war frontline, says UK MoD.
- Dam collapse situation ‘absolutely catastrophic’, says Zelensky.
- Warning over floating landmines.
- Russian soldiers swept away in flood waters, says a Ukrainian officer.
- Extensive flooding as Nova Kakhovka dam largely destroyed, satellite images show.
About 600 square kilometers, or 230 square miles, of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, was underwater on Thursday following the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, the regional governor said.
Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said 68% of the flooded territory was on the Russian-occupied left bank of the Dnipro River. The “average level of flooding” in the Kherson region on Thursday morning was 5.61 meters (18.41 ft), he said. “We’re already working. We will help everyone that has ended up in trouble,” he said in a video statement of the flooding caused by the collapse of the dam, which is about 60 km upstream from Kherson.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Ukraine blame each other for the destruction of the Russian-occupied dam on Tuesday.
“Despite the immense danger and constant Russian shelling, evacuation from zones of flooding is continuing,” Prokudin said. He said almost 2,000 people had left the flooded territory as of Thursday morning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address late on Wednesday that it was impossible to predict how many people would die in Russian-occupied areas due to the flooding.
The Nova Kakhovka dam collapse will have long-term effects akin to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, an environmental expert has warned.
Ukraine says Russia blew up the dam, most likely as an attempt to slow down Kyiv’s military counter-offensive. Russia has denied responsibility. Maksym Soroka, an environmental safety expert at the Dovkola Network NGO, told FT.com that she compares the massive attack with “the Chernobyl disaster”. “Yes, the consequences are different, but the long-term effect on the population and the territory is the same,” she said.
At least three people have drowned in floods in southern Ukraine’s Kherson, local media reports have said in the first such confirmation of casualties from the dam’s destruction. Ukrainian officials have warned locals of the danger posed by dislodged landmines exploding or releasing chemicals into the floodwater. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said it was impossible to predict how many people would die in Russian-occupied areas due to the flooding, urging a “clear and rapid reaction from the world” to support victims.
(With inputs from agencies)
