Ukraine says Russia blew up major dam and flooding imminent, orders evacuations
CBSN
Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine they control, threatening a massive flood that could displace hundreds of thousands of people, and ordered residents downriver to evacuate.
Russian news agency Tass quoted an unspecified Russian government official as saying the dam had "collapsed" due to damage. Moscow-installed authorities in the region claimed the dam was partially destroyed by "multiple strikes" overnight, unleashing an "uncontrollable" flow of water, Agence France-Presse reported.
Ukrainian authorities have previously warned that the dam's failure could unleash 4.8 billion gallons of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where hundreds of thousands of people live, as well as threatening a meltdown at a nearby Russian-occupied nuclear power plant.
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