US State Department: 20,000 people must be resettled due to destruction of Kakhovka dam

Around 20,000 people will have to be resettled because of the floods caused by the Kakhovka dam destruction, US State Department official Vedant Patel said at a June 7 press briefing.

"16,000 residents face immediate flood risks… with an estimated 20,000 people needing to relocate," he commented.

Apart from a direct danger to civilian life and property, the disaster threatens the security at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the water supply in southern Ukraine.

It can also impact the stability of the national power supply and food security, Patel added.

The official said that at the moment, the State Department cannot say conclusively who was behind the explosion, reiterating the statement by the National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby from June 6.

White House: ‘We cannot say conclusively who is responsible for Kakhovka dam breach’

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration “cannot say conclusively” who was responsible for the breach of the Kakhovka dam, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told the media on June 6.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Ukraine's Southern Operational Command reported that on June 6, Russian forces destroyed the Kakhovka dam, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster.

National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov identified Russia's 205th Motorized Rifle Brigade as the unit that carried out the detonation.

According to the latest information by 23:20 p.m. Kyiv time, more than 1,900 residents have been evacuated from the affected areas and three people in the Russian-occupied areas lost their lives in the floods.