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Drone video emerged late Monday showing flooding from a major breach at the Nova Khakovka dam in southern Ukraine.
CNN
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Drone video emerged late Monday showing water gushing from a major breach at a major dam in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, prompting Kyiv to accuse Moscow’s forces of an “act of terror.”
The important Nova Khakova Dam is located along the Dnipro River, a major waterway that runs through southeastern Ukraine, along with many towns and cities.
The video, posted on social media and geolocated by CNN, shows the dam’s wall completely breaching and rushing water pouring into the river.
Ukraine’s operational command confirmed the destruction of the dam in the south on Tuesday in a post on its official Facebook page, saying they were assessing the extent of the destruction and calculating areas that could be flooded.
In a video statement posted on Telegram, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Prokudin, appointed head of the Kherson regional military administration, blamed Russian forces.
“The Russian army has committed another terrorist act. It blew up the Khakovka hydroelectric station. Water will reach danger level in five hours. The work of evacuating the people in the danger area has started,” he said.
CNN could not immediately verify Prokutin’s claim.
However, Vladimir Leontiev, the mayor of Russia-founded Nova Khakovka, denied reports of a dam collapse in an interview with Russian state media RIA Novosti on Tuesday, calling it “nonsense”.
The outflow has the potential to wreak havoc around the city of Kherson and other populated areas along the Dnipro River, according to analysts who fear the breach could lead to fighting.
In November, the The dam was damaged Shell and satellite images from Maxer Technologies obtained by CNN showed water leaking from three sluice gates at the dam.
This is a growing story. A lot more to come.
