Kiev: The wall of a major Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine collapsed on Tuesday following an explosion, flooding low-lying areas and prompting warnings of serious ecological damage. Authorities on both sides have ordered the evacuation of thousands of residents living in the lower reaches of the river to safer places. Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up a dam and a hydroelectric power station, while Russian officials have accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack. The collapse of this dam could have widespread consequences. It could flood low-lying areas and inundate homes, streets and businesses, shut down Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and cut off drinking water supplies in the south of Crimea, which Russia has illegally annexed. has been captured.
It is not yet clear which side will benefit from the collapse of the dam, as there is a risk of flooding in areas occupied by both Russia and Ukraine. The collapse of the dam could affect Ukraine’s retaliation in the south, while Russia relies on the dam for its water supply to Crimea. Amid the outcry, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had called an urgent meeting of the National Security Council. He alleged that Russian forces blew up the dam at 2.50 am and said that some 80 settlements were at risk.
Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram that blowing up the dam “could have negative consequences” for the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. However, he said the situation is under control. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency tweeted that its experts were closely monitoring the situation at the plant and that “there is currently no threat to nuclear safety”. Gallons of water could overflow and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where thousands of people live.
A Ukrainian non-governmental organization estimated that about 100 villages and towns would be inundated. He also predicted that the water level would start receding only after five to seven days. Mykhailo Podolyak, senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that “a global ecological disaster is brewing and thousands of animals and the ecosystem will be destroyed in the next few hours.” Has been given. The ministry urged residents of 10 villages on the right bank of the river and parts of Kherson city to turn off household appliances and move to safer places with important documents and livestock, and to beware of misleading information.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Leontyev, the Russian-appointed mayor of Novaya Kakhovka, said Ukraine’s attacks were a “very serious terrorist act”. Ukraine controls five of the six dams built on the Dnieper River. The river flows from its northern border with Belarus to the Black Sea and is important for the country’s drinking water and electricity supply. Russian forces control the Kakhovka Dam. “The Russian army has committed another act of terrorism,” Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, said in a video posted on Telegram around 7 a.m. Due to which the water will reach dangerous level within five hours.
Ukraine’s state hydroelectric company said in a statement that the Kakhovka dam was completely destroyed. “The hydroelectric power station cannot be repaired,” it said. The company also claimed that Russia had detonated the plant from inside the engine room. Mayor Leontyev said on Tuesday that several attacks on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant destroyed its valves and that “water from the Kakhovka reservoir has started flowing uncontrollably to low-lying areas.” He said the plant had suffered significant damage. And it will have to be rebuilt. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of targeting the dam in the past, and in October last year Zelensky expressed fears that Russia would target the dam to cause flooding.
Read the Latest India News Today on The Eastern Herald.
