Russia's TASS news agency reported that a state of emergency was declared in the town of Nova Kakhovka, which is controlled by the Russian military in the Kherson province of Ukraine, after the collapse of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam (HPP).
The above order was issued by the local government on June 6. The mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Boris Leontyev, said that the town is now flooded.
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| Water overflows through the broken area of Nova Kakhovka dam – Photo: AP |
According to updated news, more than 600 houses in 3 residential areas on the banks of the Dnieper River in Novaya Kakhovka have been flooded. Farmland along the Dnieper River has been washed away. Currently, water in many places in Novaya Kakhovka has reached 10m high, 14 residential areas are in the flood zone and a total of 80 villages can be deeply flooded. People near these areas are being evacuated.
Earlier, emergency assistance said that 14 of the 28 abutments of the dam at the HPP plant had collapsed due to overnight air raids. According to TASS, Ukrainian soldiers carried out an air strike on the night of June 5 against this power generation facility with an Olkha multiple rocket launcher system. The air raid destroyed many water valves and left the water pumps unable to control the flow.
However, the Ukrainian side accused Russian forces of breaking the dam, and warned of great consequences. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
The same day, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi said that the failure of the Kakhovka dam would lead to a shortage of cooling water at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and could disrupt the operation of emergency generators.
The Kakhovka Dam was originally a source of cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The incident is raising fears of a nuclear accident at the largest power plant in Europe.
VNA
