This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine on Monday, June 5, 2023. Ukraine on Tuesday, June 6, accused Russian forces of blowing up the 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.
A satellite photo Tuesday morning by Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press showed a large portion of the dam’s wall, more than 600 meters , missing. Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the alleged Russian destruction of the dam “betrays a lack of confidence, a profoundly defensive measure, the lack of confidence in Russia’s longer-term prospects” in the war.
White House officials were trying to assess potential impacts of the dam collapse and were looking to see what humanitarian assistance can be provided to Ukrainians who are being displaced, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity and was not authorized to comment publicly. The Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said it was being evacuated as water poured in.
Ukrainian authorities have previously warned that the dam’s failure could unleash 18 million cubic meters of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where thousands live.