Ukraine dam breach: UN warns of grave consequences

The United Nations has warned that the collapse of the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine will have “grave and far-reaching consequences” as thousands of people are at risk from flooding.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that the dam breach “will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine on both sides of the front line through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods”.

“The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realised in the coming days,” he said.

No deaths were initially reported, but U.S. spokesperson John Kirby said the flooding had probably caused “many deaths”.

Ukrainian officials estimated about 42,000 people were at risk from the flooding, which is expected to peak on Wednesday.

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the collapse of the massive dam on Tuesday, which sent floodwaters across a swathe of Ukraine’s war zone and forced thousands to flee.

Ukraine said Russia committed a deliberate war crime in blowing up the dam which powered a hydroelectric station.

The Kremlin blamed Ukraine, saying it was trying to distract from the launch of a major counteroffensive that Russia says is faltering.

In Kherson city, about 60 km (37 miles) downstream from the dam, water levels rose by 3.5 metres (11-1/2 feet) on Tuesday, forcing residents to slog through water up to their knees to evacuate, carrying plastic bags full of possessions and small pets in carriers.

Residents in flooded Nova Kakhovka on the Russian-controlled bank of the Dnipro said some had decided to stay despite being ordered out.

The Kazkova Dibrova zoo on the Russian-held riverbank was completely flooded and all 300 animals were dead, a representative said via the zoo’s Facebook account.

The United States said it was uncertain who was responsible, but the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Robert Wood, told reporters it would not make sense for Ukraine to destroy the dam and harm its own people.

The Geneva Conventions ban targeting dams in war because of the danger to civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address that his prosecutors had approached the International Criminal Court about the dam. Earlier, he said on Telegram that Russian forces blew up the power plant from inside.

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The dam supplies water to a wide area of southern Ukrainian farmland, including the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, as well as cooling the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Satellite images taken on Tuesday afternoon by Maxar Technologies showed houses and other buildings submerged, many with only their roofs showing.

Maxar said the images of more than 2,500 square km (965 square miles) between Nova Kakhovka and the Dniprovska Gulf, southwest of Kherson city on the Black Sea, showed numerous towns and villages flooded.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said the Zaporizhzhia plant, upriver on the reservoir, should have enough water to cool its reactors for “some months” from a separate pond.