a partially destroyed dam, Zelensky convenes his security council

The Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, located in the Russian-occupied areas of Kherson region in southern Ukraine, was partially destroyed on Tuesday (June 6th), with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of responsibility.

Ukrainian forces carried out ‘multiple strikes’ on the Kakhovka dam overnight Monday-Tuesday, Nova Kakhovka town mayor Vladimir Leontiev said on Telegram, claiming they had destroyed the gate valves of the dam and caused an “uncontrollable discharge of water”. “The dam is not destroyed and it is an immense happiness”, he however assured.

For its part, the Ukrainian army accused in a press release Russia of having organized an explosion on the dam. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urgently convened his security council, announced the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriï Iermak, on Telegram, denouncing a “war crime”.

Rising waters

The rise in water was observed in several localities located near the dam without the situation becoming critical, according to the administration of the Kherson region, installed by Russia. Several villages were flooded by the Dnieper River.

“If necessary, we are ready to evacuate the inhabitants of the neighboring villages”, declared in a statement on Telegram the head of the government of the Kherson region, Andrey Alekseyenko, stressing however that their life is not threatened. and calling for “not to panic”.

The Kakhovka dam, taken at the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, notably makes it possible to supply water to the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014 by Moscow. Laid out on the Dnieper River in 1956, during the Soviet period, the work is built partly of concrete and earth. It is one of the largest infrastructures of this type in Ukraine.

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