Flooding in the Kherson region, Ukraine after Russian forces destroyed a large dam at Nova Kakhovka ... [+]
Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 468.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes gathers information and provides updates on the situation.
Explosives planted by Russian troops, identified as members of the 205th Motorized Rifle Brigade, blew up the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant last night. Destruction of the dam, located in the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region in Russian-occupied southeastern Ukraine, has unleashed a flood of water. According to Reuters, the reservoir at the dam held water equal in volume to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
According to preliminary data, the damage is irreparable. With more than 80 towns and cities at risk of flooding as the water level continues to rise, the Ukrainian government has branded the explosion the greatest technological disaster in Europe in recent decades. The reservoir at the dam has supplied water for safety systems and cooling turbine capacitors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant 90 miles away, where a safety pond provides sufficient water to avert any immediate risk for several months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced an emergency evacuation operation from the threatened areas although the government does not foresee an immediate risk to human life. Thousands of people have been evacuated so far. Ukraine has called on the world to condemn the Russian attack on a critical infrastructure facility and to impose new far-reaching and comprehensive sanctions against the Kremlin.
KHERSON, UKRAINE - JUNE 6: A man evacuates a cow, leading it through the street of a flooded Korabel ... [+]
Regional.
Kharkiv. Russian forces attacked the city of Kharkiv last night. S-300 missiles struck the Slobidskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts but did not wound any residents.
Russian shelling of the village of Zapadne in the Kupiansk region yesterday caused depressurization of an ammonia pipeline. Experts monitoring ammonia levels in the region have not found leakage exceeding required standards and believe that no threat exists of dissemination of dangerous fumes. Russian forces shelled and damaged another ammonia pipeline in the region the day before.
Kyiv. Ukraine's capital once again withstood a massive missile attack last night. Russian forces launched approximately 20 Х-101/555 cruise missiles from Tu-95 strategic bombers. Kyiv’s air defenses intercepted all the missiles.
By Daria Dzysiuk, Alan Sacks