Health Ministry: Thousands of fish have died in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast

Tens of thousands of fish have died in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast after Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka dam the day before, the Health Ministry reported on June 7.

"Tens of thousands of fish were left in shallow water. The same situation may develop in the coming days in other affected regions of the country," the Health Ministry said.

Earlier today, the ministry warned that fish may also begin to die in large numbers in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in the next three to five days due to a sudden drop in water levels.

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 6 and the subsequent flooding of the Dnipro River triggered a large-scale environmental disaster.

Ten thousand hectares of arable land will be flooded and the 2,155 square meters large Kakhovka Reservoir, which has a water volume comparable to the Great Salt Lake in the U.S., is expected to disappear in one to three days. At least 150 tons of machine oil have been released into the Dnipro River during the flooding.