Exiled Nova Kakhovka Mayor Volodymyr Kovalenko reported significant flooding in the southern Russian-occupied city after Russian forces destroyed the Kakhovka dam in the early hours of June 5.
The explosion at the dam, which crosses the Dnipro River, also blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, including its engine room, according to the mayor.
The plant is located some five kilometers from the city of Nova Kakhovka, occupied by Russian forces since the early days of Russia's full-scale war.
"The first street of the city, which is located along the shore, is already flooded at this time. The residential area begins behind it. The old part of the city, two-story and three-story Finnish houses, including those that belong to architectural monuments," Kovalenko said.
As of 6:30 a.m. Kyiv time, Kovalenko said that the Nova Kakhovka's local zoo, a boat station, and a theater were flooded, and water was approaching other areas in the city.
The mayor added that it was difficult to get in touch with his sources in Nova Kakhovka due to unstable internet, which he called an attempt by Russian occupation authorities to avoid information from spreading.
Russian forces destroyed the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant’s dam across the Dnipro River on the morning of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.
Built in 1956, the power plant is a crucial component of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to Ukraine’s state hydroelectric power company, the damage caused by the breach is “impossible to repair.”
Around 16,000 people’s homes in Kherson Oblast are reportedly located in “critical risk” zones for flooding. Seven hundred and forty-two people have been evacuated from Kherson Oblast as of 10:00 a.m. local time, according to the Interior Ministry.
Olena Goncharova
