Ukrainian city submerged in water after hydroelectric plant destroyed
(Baonghean.vn) - On June 6, Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine's Kherson region was flooded after water levels rose due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, head of the city administration Vladimir Leontyev said.
"The city is flooded," Vladimir Leontyev told Rossiya-1 TV channel. A local emergency regime has been introduced in the Nova Kakhovka metropolitan area due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, according to the authorities.
"In order to carry out urgent rescue work and urgently eliminate the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant, an emergency regime has been issued for the relevant agencies and forces of the unified state system to prevent and eliminate the consequences from 21:00 on June 6, 2023," the announcement said. The upper part of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant was destroyed by shelling last night, the reservoir dam itself was not destroyed.
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| Illustration photo. Photo: AP |
The attack by the Ukrainian army on the hydroelectric power plant was allegedly carried out from the Vilkha multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). Water is being released without regulation. At the moment, there is no need to evacuate the population. The Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is the sixth (lower and final) stage of the Dnieper hydroelectric power plant chain, located 5 km from the city of Nova Kakhovka.
Immediately after the incident, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Russia for increasing attacks on civilian targets, emphasizing that this latest Russian attack marked a “new dimension” in the current war and was considered one of many violations by Russian soldiers aimed at civilians, not military sites.
According to Scholz, Russian forces will also attack towns, villages, hospitals, schools and infrastructure; so this is in line with the way President Vladimir Putin is conducting this war. In addition, Chancellor Scholz announced that Germany is monitoring the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine, due to concerns following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, which supplies water to the ZNPP. “All we can do now is monitor developments at the Zaporizhzhia plant,” Scholz said.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam showed the brutality of Russia's war in Ukraine. On Twitter, Mr. Stoltenberg wrote: "Today's destruction of the Kakhovka Dam puts thousands of civilians at risk and causes serious environmental damage.
It is not yet clear who is behind the destruction of the dam. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking and destroying the dam./.