Dash for safety as vast Ukraine dam blast unleashes torrents

Devastating Ukraine dam blast blamed on ‘Russian terrorists’

- Nicholas Cecil Political Editor

CIVILIANS were being rushed to safety today after a vast Soviet-era dam in the Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine was blown up.

The explosion at the Kakhovka barrier unleashed a torrent of water into the Dnipro River and other waterways, flooding some parts of the southern city of Kherson, and threatening dozens of other towns and villages.

Millions of litres of water were gushing through the breached dam after the “ecocide” attack which Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky blamed on the “Russian terrorists”. Ukraine’s military  intelligence agency said Russian forces blew up the dam “in a panic” to stop Kyiv’s army from using its road as part of a major counter-offensive which was increasingly believed to be underway.

But Russian news agencies said the dam had been destroyed in shelling while Moscow-installed local officials blamed the attack on Ukraine, with the breach potentially threatening water supplies to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

At least 22,000 people were believed to be at risk from the flood surge. Evacuations of civilians were swiftly underway and dog owners were warned not to keep their pets tied up as water levels rose and cattle were reported to have drowned.

The Russian-controlled Ukrainian town of Nova Kakhovka, next to the dam, was under water by midday, the Russian state news agency TASS cited the Russian-installed mayor as stating, after water levels were said to have risen 10 metres.