24 villages flooded after Ukraine’s critical Nova Kakhovka dam burst. Ukrainian President Zelensky fears that another 80 villages and towns may be flooded. In the meantime, about 1,000 people have been evacuated from these areas. Many of the region’s 42,000 residents have been forced to leave the city by bus and train. Those who could not go anywhere are in dire straits. Many spend the night on roofs and trees.
The Kakhovka Dam is crucial for drinking water in the region, agriculture and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Its influence extends to the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula. Now the flow of the Dnipro River puts the city of Kherson at risk of severe flooding. BBC news.
Deputy Prosecutor-General Viktoria Litvinova said on Ukrainian television that 17,000 residents of the Ukrainian-controlled area west of the Dnipro River and 25,000 residents of the Russian-controlled east bank must be evacuated.
It is still unclear what caused the dam to break early Tuesday morning. Moscow and Kiev blamed each other for the incident. Ukraine has said that Russia has done this so that its troops cannot go to southern Ukraine. And Moscow complains, Ukrainian forces have done this by shelling.
This dam was built during the Soviet period. From here, water was supplied to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. At the same time, water also flowed to the Crimean peninsula. This region was occupied by Russia in 2014. The area next to this dam is also occupied by Russia.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said that this is the biggest environmental disaster in Europe in the last few decades and that humans are responsible for it. He claimed that these strong dams and hydropower plants cannot collapse due to common reasons. Russia broke it.