The West condemns Russia’s actions after the collapse of the large Nova Kakhovka dam.
At least 17,000 people have been forced to leave their homes and 40,000 are at risk after major floods.
– We are afraid that a major disaster will occur, says 52-year-old Iryna, who was forced to flee the floods.
The devastation is gigantic after the strategically and humanitarianly important Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed during the night of Tuesday. At least 17,000 people have been forced to flee their homes after flood warnings and up to 70 communities have disappeared under water, according to the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
– We know that there will be problems with the availability of water. Even areas that have not been flooded will have problems. The entire region. Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, he says in a speech on Tuesday evening according to Ukrainian Pravda.
Over 40,000 people are in danger of being flooded, according to the Attorney General Andrij Kostin. The UN Security Council is to meet during the evening for an emergency meeting due to the incident.
“Physically impossible to blow up from the outside”
Although Russia tries to point the finger at Ukraine, the rest of the world agrees that it is Vladimir Putin’s army that is behind the attack.
– Russia has controlled the dam and the entire power plant for more than a year. It is physically impossible to blow it up from the outside, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier in the day.
The president also says that Russia has “detonated a bomb of mass environmental destruction.”
Several world leaders, including EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have condemned the Russian attack.
“The destruction of the dam is an outrageous attack on civilian infrastructure and puts thousands of people in the Kherson region at risk,” writes Ursula von der Leyen on Twitter.
Tens of thousands of homeless
In the area, tens of thousands of people have now become homeless after major floods. The White House said in a statement during the evening that many people are believed to have died in connection with the collapse.
The AFP news agency, which is on the ground in the region, has spoken to several Ukrainians who have been forced to leave their homes behind. One of the people evacuated from Kherson is 52-year-old Iryna.
– We are afraid of what will happen tonight. We are afraid that a major disaster will occur, she says.
“Feeling even more hate and anger”
The 56-year-old nurse Svitlana calls the attack “a shameful act by Russia”.
– I feel even more hatred and even more anger now, she says.
How big the devastation in southern Ukraine actually is is difficult to say, according to the president.
– The consequences of this tragedy will become apparent in about a week, he says in his speech.
– It will be clear what remains and what can happen next.