Ukraine: 600 sq km Kherson region submerged by floodwater

Around 600 square kilometers of Kherson region in Ukraine has been submerged by floodwater caused as a result of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, the regional governor says.

The Nova Kakhovka dam was destroyed early on Tuesday, with satellite images and videos on social media showing a series of intense explosions around the dam as flood water was unleashed across the war zone.

Both Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over the alleged explosion that destroyed the key dam and forced the evacuation of thousands of people.

The dam was the largest reservoir in Ukraine in terms of volume and used to hold an estimated 18 cubic kilometers of water. It supplied water for much of southeastern Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the Crimean peninsula that joined the Russian Federation in 2014.

Sixty-eight percent of the flooded territory was on the Russian-controlled left bank of the Dnipro River, said Governor Oleksandr Prokudin, adding that the “average level of flooding” in Kherson region on Thursday morning was 5.61 meters (18.41 ft).

“We’re already working. We will help everyone that has ended up in trouble,” the governor further said in a video statement, noting, “Despite the immense danger and constant Russian shelling, evacuation from zones of flooding is continuing.”

According to Prokudin, around 2,000 people have already left flooded territory as of Thursday morning.

n his first reaction to the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denounced the attack on the Nova Kakhovka dam as a ”barbaric act that led to a large-scale environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.”