The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office opened a war crimes investigation into the explosion at the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said on Wednesday they have classified the attack as “ecocide” and “as a violation of the laws and customs of war.”

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"This flagrant violation of human rights and international law requires a coordinated response from the international community. All those responsible must be held accountable," Kostin said, which was all included in a readout of a meeting he had with Fan Xianzhong, the Chinese ambassador to Ukraine.

The extreme flooding has forced thousands of people downriver to abandon their homes, as roughly 80 settlements or villages could be affected. Ukrainian leaders have estimated that roughly 40,000 people could be affected, while the environmental consequences remain unknown.

"The consequences are catastrophic," the statement from the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office said. "More than 40,000 people were affected. Houses and infrastructure have been destroyed, land has become unsuitable for agriculture, water supply has been disrupted in a number of regions, both under the control of Ukraine and in the territories temporarily occupied by Russia."

Russian and Ukrainian leaders have accused each other of launching the attack that punctured the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River near Kherson, leading to massive waves pouring through the gap in the dam.

"Massive flooding. Large-scale evacuations. Environmental devastation. Destruction of newly planted crops," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, while U.N. relief chief Martin Griffiths noted there will be “grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine, on both sides of the front line, through the loss of homes, food, safe water, and livelihoods.”

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Guterres said, "At least 16,000 people have already lost their homes — with safe and clean drinking water supplies at risk for many thousands more."

The Biden administration is still trying to ascertain who's responsible for the explosion, as Ukrainian and Russian leaders blamed the other, though officials argued the incident wouldn't have happened, regardless of who actually carried it out, if Russia was not actively trying to conquer Ukraine.