The Ukrainian military authorities denounced early Tuesday the blowing up, by Russian forces, of the Kakhovka dam, located on the Dnipro river as it passes through the Kherson province in southern Ukraine, which has forced the start of the emergency evacuation of the inhabitants of the affected area. “The Russian Army has carried out another terrorist attack. They have blown up the Kajovka Hydroelectric Power Plant,” denounced the head of the Military Administration of the Kherson province, Oleksandr Prokudin, in a video addressed to the population of the area.

“Kherson is already flooded. About 16,000 people are affected. They are being evacuated. The situation is likely to be worse on the Russian-occupied left bank,” reported Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kiyv College of Economists and member of the Administration Zelenski, through a message on Twitter to which he has attached a video that shows the terrible situation that is already taking place in the aforementioned area. The water level is expected to rise 12 meters in the town closest to the dam. It would cover four-story buildings.

For this reason, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, has reported the call, by the president of the country, of an urgent National Security Council. Yermak has described the blowing up of the dam as a “war crime” and “ecocide”, and has posted a video allegedly showing water beginning to overflow from the damaged dam. “The Russians will be responsible for the lack of drinking water for the people in the south of the Kherson region and Crimea, for the possible destruction of some towns and the biosphere,” Yermak added.

The Ukrainian leader himself has blamed “Russian terrorists.” “The destruction of the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from all corners of the Ukrainian land“, added Zelenski. The dam, 30 meters (yards) high and 3.2 km (2 miles) long, which retains water equivalent to that of the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah, was built in 1956 on the Dnipro River as part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, it also supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, and to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, also under Russian control.

Throughout the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Kakhovka dam has been one of the main targets. During the Russian takeover of Kherson, the Moscow Army threatened to mine the dam. In addition, its strategic situation and the importance for the Zaporizhia power plant have caused it to be focused on since March 2022. In fact, the Ukrainian authorities consider that Russia has acted in this way to “create insurmountable obstacles in the advance of the Forces Ukrainian navies”, according to the adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office Mikhailo.

Podolyak has specified: “The purpose is obvious: create insurmountable obstacles to the Ukrainian advance; take the information initiative; slow down a fair end to the war”. Precisely, the destruction of the dam occurs when both Ukraine and Russia have reported in their latest military reports actions by the Ukrainian army that seem to point to the beginning of their expected counteroffensive to recover territories occupied by the In October last year, in the midst of the Ukrainian counter-offensive to retake control of Kherson, Zelensky called on the international community to put pressure on Russia to prevent Russia from doing such a thing. Zelensky then warned of catastrophic consequences for the entire area if it did. it happened.