A vast Soviet-era dam in the Russian controlled part of southern Ukraine was blown on Tuesday, unleashing a flood of water across the war zone, according to both Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Both sides blamed the other for destroying the dam.
Unverified videos on social media showed a series of intense explosions around the Kakhovka dam. Other videos showed water surging through the remains of the dam with bystanders expressing their shock, sometimes in strong language.
06:15 AM
Dam blast would be blow to counter-offensive
President Zelensky has previously suggested that Russia would not hesitate to cause an environmental disaster for the sake of gaining a military advantage.
As Ukraine plans its counter-offensive, any flooding if Kherson could complicate plans for attacks in the contested southern region.
The Kakhovka dam has long been considered a possible military target.
Consider the damage that 18 million cubic metres of water could create while engulfing nearby villages and any of the remaining 284,000 people who lived nearby before the invasion.
Destroying the infrastructure could cut the whole of southern Ukraine of its water supply. That includes the water usually supplied to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant.
05:56 AM
Zelensky to hold emergency talks
We’re now hearing that Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, is calling security advisors together for an emergency meeting.
Ukrainians are waking to the news that a major dam has been damaged overnight. Their government is yet to confirm the extent of the destruction.
05:27 AM
Nova Kakhovka Dam ‘attacked’
The large Nova Kakhovka Dam in the Russia-controlled parts of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine was destroyed and the territory is flooding, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source close to the matter.
TASS cited the source as saying that it was a quiet night and that there were no air strikes on the dam overnight.
Kyiv and Moscow are each blaming the other side for the damage.
“The Kakhovka (dam) was blown up by the Russian occupying forces,” the South command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Tuesday on its Facebook page.
“The scale of the destruction, the speed and volumes of water, and the likely areas of inundation are being clarified.”
Russian news agencies said the dam, controlled by Russian forces, had been destroyed in shelling while a Russian-installed official said it was a terrorist attack – Russian shorthand for an attack by Ukraine.
05:25 AM
Good morning
Follow the live blog for the latest news out of Ukraine on Tuesday.
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