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A major dam collapsed in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, causing floods, threatening crops in the country’s breadbasket and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides of the war scrambled to evacuate residents.
Ukraine accused Russia of bombing nova Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River in a premeditated war crime. The Kremlin said it was Ukraine that sabotaged the dam, to divert attention from a major counterattack that Moscow says is faltering. Neither side provided immediate evidence of who was to blame. The Geneva Conventions expressly prohibit the targeting of dams in war, due to the danger this poses to civilians.
as water levels rose South of the dam, residents of the town of Antonivka, about 64 kilometers downstream, described watching in horror as floodwaters swept past trees and rubble from washed-out homes. Ukrainian emergency crews rushed to evacuate the most vulnerable on the western side of the river, while conservationists warned of a protracted environmental catastrophe. It was more difficult to assess what was happening on the eastern bank of the river under Russian control. The disaster came a day after US and Russian officials said a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive may have begun east of Dnipro in the Donetsk region.
The Kazkova Dibrova Zoo on the Russian-controlled riverbank has been completely flooded and all 300 animals have died, a delegate said. The dam provides water to a wide area, including Russian-occupied Crimea, as well as cooling the Zaporizhia nuclear plant it controls Russia.
Russia has controlled the dam since early in its 15-month invasion, although Ukrainian forces recaptured the northern bank of Dnipro last year. Both sides have long accused the other of plotting to destroy Thedam. “Russian terrorists,” Mr. President Zelensky He said.
He claimed that the Russians “carried out an internal bombing of the facilities”. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called it an “outrage”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed “sabotage: by Ukraine.” Earlier, Russia-appointed officials gave conflicting accounts, with some saying the dam was hit by Ukrainian missiles overnight, while others said it exploded on its own due to previous damage.
Ukraine accused Russia of bombing nova Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River in a premeditated war crime. The Kremlin said it was Ukraine that sabotaged the dam, to divert attention from a major counterattack that Moscow says is faltering. Neither side provided immediate evidence of who was to blame. The Geneva Conventions expressly prohibit the targeting of dams in war, due to the danger this poses to civilians.
as water levels rose South of the dam, residents of the town of Antonivka, about 64 kilometers downstream, described watching in horror as floodwaters swept past trees and rubble from washed-out homes. Ukrainian emergency crews rushed to evacuate the most vulnerable on the western side of the river, while conservationists warned of a protracted environmental catastrophe. It was more difficult to assess what was happening on the eastern bank of the river under Russian control. The disaster came a day after US and Russian officials said a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive may have begun east of Dnipro in the Donetsk region.
The Kazkova Dibrova Zoo on the Russian-controlled riverbank has been completely flooded and all 300 animals have died, a delegate said. The dam provides water to a wide area, including Russian-occupied Crimea, as well as cooling the Zaporizhia nuclear plant it controls Russia.
Russia has controlled the dam since early in its 15-month invasion, although Ukrainian forces recaptured the northern bank of Dnipro last year. Both sides have long accused the other of plotting to destroy Thedam. “Russian terrorists,” Mr. President Zelensky He said.
He claimed that the Russians “carried out an internal bombing of the facilities”. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called it an “outrage”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed “sabotage: by Ukraine.” Earlier, Russia-appointed officials gave conflicting accounts, with some saying the dam was hit by Ukrainian missiles overnight, while others said it exploded on its own due to previous damage.
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