The dam on the Dnipro River is a strategic water source for the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, and flooding could potentially block Ukrainian forces seeking to regain lost territory.
The damage has also increased fears of a nuclear incident, since the Zaporizhzhia power plant relies on the upstream Kakhovka reservoir for its cooling systems.
The 3.3-kilometre-long (two-mile-long) dam was captured by Russian forces at the beginning of the invasion on February 24, 2022, along with its hydroelectric power station.
Upstream from the dam is the Kakhovka reservoir, which can hold 18 cubic kilometres of water -- approximately the same capacity as Utah's Great Salt Lake.
Ukraine, which now controls the river's right bank, said on Tuesday there was flooding in at least eight areas along the Dnipro River.
About 16,000 people are in a critical flood zone, according to Ukrainian officials.
The dam is about 60 kilometres (40 miles) east of Kherson, which Ukraine took back in November, turning the river into the new front line.
Russia, which controls the left bank of the river, said over 22,000 residents in 14 areas were in potential flood zones but there was no risk of flooding for major population centres.
- Disputing claims -
Besides flooding, there are fears of a nuclear incident because the Zaporizhzhia power station relies on the Kakhovka reservoir for its cooling system.
The United Nations and Russia said there was no major risk to the nuclear power plant but Ukraine said there was a growing danger.
Built in Soviet times in the 1950s, the Kakhovka dam has strategic value. It pumps water into the North Crimean Canal, which starts in southern Ukraine and crosses the entire Crimean peninsula.
This means that any problem with the dam could cause water supply problems for Crimea, which has been under Russian control since 2014.
Kyiv accused Moscow of mining the dam when combat raged nearby in October, during the last major offensive by Ukrainian forces seeking to regain lost territory.
Kremlin proxies in the Kherson region on Tuesday denied any plans to blow up the dam, calling Ukraine's assertions "lies".
Kyiv says Moscow destroyed the dam to slow down its military counteroffensive.
Russia said the dam was damaged by multiple Ukrainian strikes.
Major dam in Russia-occupied Ukraine destroyed; thousands evacuated
Washington DC (UPI) Jun 6, 2021 -A major hydroelectric dam in Russia-occupied southern Ukraine was destroyed early Tuesday, forcing thousands of residents in the area to evacuate and raising fears over the safety of a nearby nuclear power plant.
Ukraine is blaming the Kremlin for blowing up the Kakhovskaya Hydro Electric Power Plant dam on the Dnipro River in Nova Kakhovka, while Russia and its local officials have yet to comment on responsibility.
Russia-appointed Nova Kakhovka Mayor Vladimir Leontyev said the scale of destruction is "very serious" and that reconstruction will be a massive undertaking, Russian news agency TASS reported, while noting that Ukraine has been shelling the city.
Ukraine hydro power company Ukrhydroenergo said the breach in the dam was caused by a detonation in the engine room early Tuesday. By 9 a.m., the water level of the Kakhovka Reservoir had greatly decreased and the evacuation of the nearby population had begun.
Ukraine's Southern Occupation Command blamed Russian troops for blowing up the dam, while warning in a statement that flooding on the region was likely.
Ten villages on the right bank of the Dnipro River and parts of the southern city of Kherson have been ordered to evacuate, Ukraine's interior ministry said in a statement as water levels in the "danger zone" continue to rise.
Kherson region governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that about 16,000 people are in the so-called critical zone on the right bank of the Kherson region.
"All elders and heads of communities have been informed and are gathering the population at designated collection points," he said.
Those told to evacuate are being advised to turn off all electrical appliances, take documents with them and use information only from official Ukrainian sources as "the enemy is trying to spread misinformation, to remove responsibility for another crime," the ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter that he has convened the National Security and Defense Council. He also published drone aerial footage of the destroyed dam, showing the Dnipro River streaming through the large breach.
He blamed the dam's destruction on "Russian terrorists" and said it was proof that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukraine.
"Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror," he said. "It's only Ukraine's victory that will return security.
"That victory will come."
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, described the dam destruction as "probably Europe's largest technological disaster in decades."
"This is a heinous war crime. The only way to stop Russia, the greatest terrorist of the 21st century, is to kick it out of Ukraine," he tweeted.
Andriy Yermak, head of the president's office, called it "ecocide."
"The Russians will be responsible for the possible deprivation of drinking water for people in the south of Kherson region and Crimea, the possible destruction of some settlements and the biosphere," he said.
The reservoir, among other functions, supplies water for turbine capacitors and safety systems at the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been occupied by Russia since early in the war and has repeatedly come under attack.
Ukraine's nuclear power company Energoatom said the destruction of the dam is "an additional threat."
"Currently, the power plant's cooling pond is filled," it said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, said it is aware of reports of damage at the dam and experts at the nearby nuclear plant are closely monitoring the situation.
"No immediate nuclear safety risk at plant," it said.
In October, Zelensky warned that Russia was concocting reasons to commit a large-scale disaster, stating he had information that Kremlin forces had "mined the dam and aggregates of the Kakhovka hydro electric power plant."
He said that if the dam was blown, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson would be put at risk of flooding and hundreds of thousands of people may be affected.
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