The major dam in southern Ukraine is damaged and people are being evacuated

Emergency evacuation warning for the Kakhovka reservoir, a Ukrainian city’s water system affected by a massive dam blow up in Kherson

The water levels rose beyond normal after the heavy rains and snow melt. Satellite images showed water coming over the damaged gates.

Energoatom, the nuclear operator, wrote that the Kakhovka reservoir, where water levels are “rapidly decreasing,” was necessary “for the plant to feed the turbine condensers and ZNPP safety systems,” the statement said.

In a Telegram statement, Ukraine‘s nuclear operator said that the blow up of the dam could have a negative consequence, but it said that for now the situation is controllable.

Leontyev, the Russian-appointed mayor, said Tuesday that numerous strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant destroyed its valves, and “water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably flow downstream.” Leontyev added that damage to the station was beyond repair, and it would have to be rebuilt.

The head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration said in a video that the Russian army was committing another act of terrorism, and warned that water would hit critical levels within five hours.

There was footage from a monitoring camera that appeared on social media to show a flash, explosion and breakdown of the dam.

The entire country’s drinking water and power supply can be traced back to five of the six dams located along the Dnipro, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry called for residents of 10 villages on the Dnipro’s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson downriver to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances, and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation.

Instantaneous collapse of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine: a global ecological catastrophe played out online, and Russia’s warning to Ukraine

Videos posted online were testifying to the spillover. One showed floodwaters inundating a long roadway; another showed a beaver scurrying for high ground from rising waters.

A global ecological disaster is playing out now, online, and thousands of animals and habitats will be destroyed in the next few hours, according to a senior advisor to the president.

Over 100 villages and towns would be flooded, according to a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization. It also reckoned that the water level would start dropping only after five to seven days.

The risk of a nuclear accident has been warned by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency said in a statement it was “closely monitoring” the plant and did not see any immediate dangers.

The fallout could have broad consequences: Flooding homes, streets and businesses downstream; depleting water levels upstream that help cool Europe’s largest nuclear power plant; and draining supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed.

KYIV, Ukraine — A major dam near a nuclear power plant suddenly collapsed overnight in southern Ukraine, creating the likelihood of widespread flooding and posing an additional risk to an already troubled nuclear plant.

With growing signs that the Ukrainian forces are about to launch a long-awaited military offensive against the Russian forces, this development comes along with the others.

Video on social media shows a big chunk missing from the Kakhovka dam, on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, allowing water to surge through the opening.

The officials in the country said 80 cities, towns and villages were at risk because of the river.

Water is coming. The situation is worse because some roads are being washed away. Evacuation groups are looking for other ways,” said Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.

The grounds of the facility have been repeatedly struck by shelling since Russians took control in the early days of the war.

Russia claimed Monday it had rebuffed a large push by Ukrainian ground forces in the eastern Donbas region, which Russia described as the start of the offensive.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy praised the Ukrainian soldiers fighting around Bakhmut. But he didn’t say whether this was part of the larger offensive.