The enormous Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was blown up overnight on Tuesday, flooding large swaths of territory with torrents of water ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, according to Ukrainian and Russian forces, who blamed each other for the attack.
Oleksandr Prokudyn, governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region, said Russian forces had blown up the dam, which spans the frontlines across the Dnipro river, and ordered the evacuation of several villages along the Ukraine-controlled western bank.
Videos posted on social media showed water surging through an enormous hole in the dam.
Vladimir Leontiev, Russian-appointed mayor of the occupied town of Nova Kakhovka, claimed Ukrainian forces had shelled the dam and caused it to collapse, according to Tass.
