A critical dam on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine was split in half overnight Tuesday, posing significant risks to the safety of the thousands of people who live downstream. It was not immediately clear who caused the damage.
Ukrainian officials on Tuesday began evacuating people in the Kherson region as huge volumes of water gushed from the dam’s reservoir, with flooding expected to reach dangerous levels within hours.
The dam is near the front line of the war.
Videos of the dam, in the town of Nova Kakhovka, reviewed by The New York Times do not reveal what caused the destruction. But they do show a significant amount of water flowing freely through the dam, indicating severe damage.
Located near the front line of the war in the southern Kherson region, the barrier and nearby infrastructure have been damaged throughout the war. Last year, Russian forces took control of the dam and a nearby hydroelectric plant. The Ukrainians now say the power plant “cannot be restored.”
Russia and Ukraine traded blame.
On Tuesday, Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the destruction, without offering evidence.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine blamed “Russian terrorists,” while the Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry S. Peskov, blamed Ukrainian forces, describing what happened as a “sabotage” attack.
Security of the dam, the second largest of the cascade of six dams on the Dnipro River and a vital source of water and power, has been a continuing concern during the war, with both sides accusing the other of plotting to destroy it.
Thousands of people are at risk.
Communities along the waterway are at risk of being flooded and washed away. About 16,000 people are in the “critical zone” on the Ukrainian-controlled western bank of the Dnipro River, said Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional military administrator.
The eastern bank of the river, south of the dam, is controlled by Russian forces.
The damage threatens to disrupt vital services provided by the dam’s reservoir. It has provided water for drinking and agriculture.
It also provides water for the cooling of reactors and spent fuel at the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but Ukrainian officials and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that the facility is not at immediate risk of meltdown as a result of the damage to the dam.
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