Why the destroyed dam in Ukraine causing flooding and thousands of evacuees is important

Ukraine accused Russia of destroying the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, located on the Dnieper River in the south of the country.

The hydroelectric power station is located in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in the Ukrainian region of Kherson, which is currently under Russian occupation.

The incident caused flooding in the immediate vicinity, necessitating several evacuations in the area.

A state of emergency was declared in the Nova Kakhovka district, where some 600 houses were flooded, according to Russian security sources.

Some 42,000 people around the dam — 25,000 on the Russian-controlled side and 17,000 on the side that keeps Kiev — are at risk of flooding and some of them evacuated, Ukrainian authorities said.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council and assured that his government is “doing everything possible to save the people”.

Thousands of people are being evacuated from surrounding communities, fearing that any flooding could be catastrophic.

Ukraine also accuses Russia of attacking the area south of Kherson with artillery while evacuating the population.

Here’s what you know so far.

What happened?

Photos and video show a huge breach in the dam, with water flowing through it and flowing downstream toward Kherson.

It has not been determined when the first damage to the structure occurredbut satellite images verified by the BBC suggest his condition worsened over the course of several days.

A road crossing the dam appears to be damaged since June 2, but there does not appear to be a change in the flow of the water until June 6, when the breach of the wall and the collapse of nearby buildings are clearly seen on video .

It is currently unclear whether the road damage is related to the June 6 break.

Images from Nova Kakhova show buildings surrounded by water and even swans swimming around a town hall.

While the extent of the flooding is unclear downstream, it is feared it could have devastating effects on settlements in a hotspot, home to some 16,000 people.

The head of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, told Ukrainian television this morning that eight villages were already fully or completely flooded and more are expected to be flooded.

This has been stated by the operator of the Ukrainian hydroelectric dam, UkrHydroEnerho the plant was “totally destroyed” and could not be recovered.

The river is also polluted with 150 tons of industrial lubricant, according to President Zelensky, with another 300 tons at risk of spilling.

Why was she attacked?

Ukraine accused Russia of deliberately blowing it up.

This seems plausible, as Moscow might have feared that Ukrainian troops would use the road above the dam to move troops across the river into Russian territory, as part of a counter-offensive.

Zelensky claimed that it would have been “physically impossible” for his army to destroy the Kakhovka Dam.

He recalled that Russia has controlled this facility and the surrounding region for more than a year and therefore, he concluded, “mines were being mined by Russian occupiers”.

Kyiv opened a war crimes investigation. The Ukrainian government has announced that it is gathering information with teams on the ground and will provide the details to the International Criminal Court.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the dam’s destruction “shocking” and a display of “the brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine”, while the EU condemned the attack as another example of Russia’s “barbaric aggression” against Ukraine .

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected Russian involvement, blaming Ukraine instead.

Neither the Ukrainian nor Russian claims have been verified by the BBC.

The dam is very important and serves multiple purposes.

It retains a huge reservoir that supplies water to a large number of communities upstream. Farmers depend on water to grow their crops, and the breach could affect tens of thousands of people if it recedes far enough.

The dam also supplies cooling water to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, some 100 miles upstream, which is under Russian control.

Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant depends on the water of this dam to cool their nuclear reactors.

So far, reports indicate that the situation is under control.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it is closely monitoring the situation.

“The absence of water in the cooling systems for an extended period of time could lead to the fuel melting and rendering the emergency diesel generators inoperable,” Rafael Grossi, spokesman for this organization, said in a statement.

But Grossi added that “there is no immediate risk to the plant’s safety.”

The destruction of the dam could have several consequences

Analysis by Paul Adams, diplomatic correspondent in Ukraine

The destruction of the dam in Nova Kakhovka could have serious consequences in several directions. The most immediate is that downstream communities are now at risk of massive flooding.

Authorities in Kherson, less than 50 miles downstream, have urged residents of the lower parts of the city to evacuate as soon as possible and seek shelter on higher ground.

There are other dangers.

The dam supports the water of the Dnieper River and forms a huge reservoir that supplies several communities with water.

The reserve also provides cooling water for the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europeabout 100 kilometers upstream.

Kiev authorities say the situation at the Zaporizhia plant, occupied by Russian troops since last year, is “under control” but could worsen if the plant’s cooling reserves run out.

Built during Soviet times, the dam is one of six dams along the Dnieper River, which runs from the north of the country to the sea in the south.

It’s huge. Locals call it the Kakhovka Sea because in some areas you can’t see the other side. The dam contains a volume of water comparable to the Great Salt Lake in Utah in the United States, according to Reuters.