The Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River, which separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine came under attack on Tuesday (June 6), unleashing floodwaters across the war-torn zone. According to both officials in Moscow and Kyiv, the partial destruction of the dam has unleashed a torrent of water.
While Ukraine claimed Russia had caused this destruction, Russian officials are claiming that it was destroyed by Ukrainian shelling. Many are also saying that the huge dam collapsed due to earlier damage.
All you need to know about Nova Kakhovka dam
Build in 1956 on the Dnipro River as part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, Nova Kakhovka dam is 30 meters (98 feet) tall and 3.2 km (2 miles) long and holds an 18 km3 reservoir – a volume almost equal to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, United States.
The reservoir supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia claims to have annexed in 2014, and to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which is also under Russian control.
What we know so far about Nova Kakhovka dam attack in Ukraine
Soon after the destruction, Ukraine, which was the first one to comment on the situation, said Russia was responsible. “Russian terrorists. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The South command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces also claimed that the Kakhovka (reservoir) was blown up by the Russian occupying forces. “The scale of the destruction, the speed and volumes of water, and the likely areas of inundation are being clarified,” he said.
Additionally, the Russian-installed Kherson administration argued that Ukraine shelled the dam at around 2300 GMT, damaging the hydraulic valves. “On Tuesday, June 6, the Ukrainian armed forces hit the Kakhovsky hydroelectric dam, as a result of which the upper part of the hydraulic structure was damaged,” it said.
On the other hand, other Russian-installed officials claimed that no attack took place. The dam collapsed due to earlier damage and the pressure of the water, said Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in Zaporizhzhia. Russia’s state news agency TASS carried a report to the same effect.
Impact of Nova Kakhovka dam attack
Due to the surging water levels, many thousands of people are likely to be affected and both sides have commenced evacuations of civilians from the area. According to Russian installed officials, 22,000 people living across 14 settlements in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region are at risk of flooding. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that up to 80 settlements were at risk of flooding.