An attack on the Nova Kakhovka dam, located in the occupied Kherson region, is causing a massive flood which threatens at least 80 towns and could affect the power supply of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant. At the moment, Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of the destruction of the dam, and have very different versions of its possible consequences.

Ukraine’s state atomic energy agency claims the destruction of Kakhovkadam in southern Ukraine poses a threat to nuclear power plant, although they acknowledge that the situation at the facility is under control. The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has assured on Twitter that it was closely monitoring the situation, but that there was “no immediate nuclear security risk at (the) plant”, which is also located in the south of Ukraine.

The Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant gets its cooling water from the attacked tank, so even though there is no immediate risk, how it will affect its destruction is still being evaluated. “Water from the Kakhovka reservoir is necessary for the station to receive power for the ZNPP (Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant) turbine condensers and safety systems,” Energoatom said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

The explosions have also unleashed flooding in an area that is now a war zone, according to Ukrainian and Russian forces, who blame each other for the destruction. From Ukraine they affirm that Russia would have blown up the dam to try to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Energeatom has assured that the water level of the Kakhovka reservoir was going down fastposing an “additional threat” to Russian-occupied facilities, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which both sides blame each other for the bombings.

“Right now the station’s cooling pond is full: at 8:00 a.m., the water level is 16.6 meterswhich is sufficient for the needs of the station”, they have exposed after affirming that “currently, the situation in the ZNPP is under control, the Ukrainian personnel are monitoring all the indicators”.

Instead, from Russia’s state nuclear power company, Rosatom, They have assured that the rupture of the dam does not pose a threat to the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, controlled by Moscow. The director of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, occupied by Russia since March 2022, has insisted that there is no risk to the security of the facility in a statement on Telegram.