Russian and Ukrainian officials used terms like 'ecological disaster' and 'terrorist act' to describe the torrent of water gushing through the broken dam and beginning to empty an upstream reservoir that is one of the world's largest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it "the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades."A major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed Tuesday, flooding villages, endangering crops and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war scrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction.
In the downstream city of Kherson, angry residents cursed as they tried to preserve their pets and belongings. A woman who gave her name only as Tetyana waded through thigh-deep water to reach her flooded house and rescue her dogs. They were standing on any dry surface they could find but one pregnant dog was missing. "It's a nightmare," she kept repeating, declining to give her full name.
It was not immediately clear why either side might destroy the dam, and its collapse might have resulted from gradual degradation. Both Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-held lands were at risk. Experts have previously said the dam was in disrepair, which could also have led to the breach. David Helms, a retired American scientist who has monitored the reservoir since the war began, said in an email it wasn't clear if the damage was deliberate or simple neglect from Russian forces occupying the facility.Underscoring the global repercussions, wheat prices jumped 3% after the collapse.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. "cannot say conclusively what happened" and declined to say what impact the U.S. believes it would have on Ukraine's counteroffensive. The Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said the city was being evacuated, and officials in other Ukrainian and Russian-controlled areas also began to move residents out.
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