KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — A major hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine collapsed on Tuesday, flooding villages, endangering crops in the country’s breadbasket and jeopardizing drinking water supplies as both warring factions scramble to evacuate residents and each other’s blame for the destruction.
Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka Dam and hydroelectric power station built on the Dnieper River in an area Moscow has controlled for more than a year in the 1950s. Russian officials blamed Ukrainian bombing of the contested area. It was not possible to reconcile the conflicting claims.
Russian and Ukrainian officials used terms like “ecological disaster” and “terrorist attack” to describe the flow of water that poured through the broken dam, whose reservoir is one of the largest in the world. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “the worst man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades”. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it a “monumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe” and “another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
The environmental and social consequences quickly became apparent as homes, streets and businesses downstream were flooded and rescue workers began evacuating. Officials monitored water for cooling systems at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant; and authorities raised concerns about drinking water supplies in areas controlled by Ukraine and Russia.
In the downstream city of Kherson, a woman, who gave her name only as Tetyana, waded through waist-deep water to reach her flooded home and rescue her dogs. They stood on every dry surface they could find, but one pregnant bitch was missing. “It’s a nightmare,” she kept repeating, refusing to give her full name.
Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities brought in trains and buses to take residents to safety. According to official figures, about 22,000 people live in flood-prone areas in the Russian-controlled areas, while 16,000 live in the most critical zone of the Ukrainian-controlled territory. Neither side reported deaths or injuries.
A Planet Labs PBC satellite photo analyzed by The Associated Press Tuesday morning showed that a large portion of the dam, more than 600 meters (over 1,900 feet), was missing.
The long-feared dam burst brought a breathtaking new dimension to the Russian war, which is now in its 16th month. It was widely observed that Ukrainian forces were advancing in stages along a more than 1,000 km (621 mi) front line to the east and south with a long-awaited counteroffensive.
It wasn’t immediately clear why one side could destroy the dam, and its collapse may have been due to gradual deterioration. Both Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-held areas were at risk.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused Ukraine of destroying the dam to deter possible Russian attacks in the Kherson region after what he believed to be a failed Ukrainian counter-offensive. He claimed Ukraine had lost 3,715 soldiers and 52 tanks since Sunday and said – in a rare acknowledgment of Russia’s own losses – that 71 Russian soldiers had been killed and 210 wounded. Ukraine followed its usual practice of not commenting on its victims.
Zelenskyi told reporters his government had information that Russia was dismantling the dam last year, so “an explosion could occur.” Other Ukrainian officials claimed Russia blew up the dam to prevent Kiev’s counteroffensive, although observers note that crossing the wide Dnieper would be extremely difficult. According to analysts, other sections of the front line are more likely targets.
Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow on Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the alleged Russian destruction of the dam was “a deeply defensive measure” and demonstrated “a lack of confidence in Russia’s longer-term prospects.” War.
Experts previously said the dam was in poor condition, which could also have caused the rupture. David Helms, a retired American scientist who has monitored the reservoir since the start of the war, said in an email it was not clear whether the damage was done intentionally or simply carelessly by Russian forces occupying the facility.
But Helms also noted that Russia has attacked dams in the past.
The global impact was illustrated as wheat prices rose 3% after the collapse. It’s unclear whether the rise in wheat prices is due to the real risk of flooding destroying the crop. Ukraine and Russia are major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food products to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
Authorities, experts and local residents have been raising concerns about the flow of water through – and over – the Kakhovka Dam for months. After heavy rains and snowmelt last month, water levels rose above normal, inundating nearby villages. Satellite images showed water pouring over damaged lock gates.
Zelenskyy claimed Russian forces triggered an explosion inside the dam at 2:50 a.m. (Monday 2350 GMT, Monday 7:50 p.m. EDT) and said about 80 settlements were at risk.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it “a deliberate act of sabotage by the Ukrainian side … with the aim of cutting off Crimea’s water supply.”
White House officials were trying to assess the potential impact of the dam breach and what humanitarian assistance could be given to displaced Ukrainians, according to a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and was not authorized to speak publicly.
Both sides warned of an impending environmental catastrophe. The Presidential Office of Ukraine said about 150 tons of oil leaked from the dam and another 300 tons could leak.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, released a video showing the flooded streets of Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, a city in the Kherson region that was home to about 45,000 people before the war.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry urged residents of ten villages on the right bank of the Dnieper and parts of the city of Kherson to collect important documents and pets, turn off devices and leave, while warning of possible disinformation.
Russian-installed Nova Kakhovka Mayor Vladimir Leontiev said the city was being evacuated as water poured in.
Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom said via Telegram that damage to the dam could have “negative consequences” for the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, but wrote that the situation was “manageable” for the time being.
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency reported “no immediate threat to the safety of the facility,” which has been shut down for months but still requires water for its cooling system. The dam’s level was said to be falling at a rate of 5 centimeters (2 inches) per hour. At this rate, the replenishment from the reservoir should last for a few days, it said.
The Zaporizhia power plant has alternative water sources, including a large pond that can provide water “for a few months,” according to the IAEA.
Ukrainian authorities have previously warned that the dam’s failure could release a volume of water estimated to be almost equal to that of the Great Salt Lake in the United States, inundating Kherson and dozens of other areas home to thousands. Mohammad Heidarzadeh, from the University of Bath’s Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, said the Kakhovka Dam is among the largest reservoirs in the world and is 90 times larger than the UK’s largest dam, the Kielder Dam in Northumberland.
The World Data Center for Geospatial and Sustainable Development, a Ukrainian NGO, estimated nearly 100 villages and towns would be inundated and forecast that the water level would drop within a week.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, said: “Thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours.”
Online video showed water flooding a long street; another showed a beaver hurrying toward a rise.
The incident was also condemned internationally, including by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said the “outrageous act…shows once again the brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine”.
Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnieper River, which runs from the northern border with Belarus to the Black Sea and is vital to the country’s drinking water and electricity supply and to Russian-occupied Crimea.
Ukraine’s State Hydroelectric Power Plant said the dam’s power plant “cannot be restored”. Ukrhydroenergo also claimed that Russia blew up the station from the engine room.
Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of attacking the dam.
___
Blann reported from Kyiv. Associated Press writer Danica Kirka from London contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine