KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 The wall of a major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe\u2019s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war scrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River in an area that Moscow controls, while Russian officials blamed Ukrainian bombardment in the contested area. It was not possible to verify the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The potentially far-reaching environmental and social consequences of the disaster quickly became clear as homes, streets and businesses flooded downstream and emergency crews began evacuations; officials raced to check cooling systems at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; and authorities expressed concern about supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities brought in trains and buses for residents. About 22,000 people live in areas at risk of flooding in Russian-controlled areas, while 16,000 live in the most critical zone in Ukrainian-held territory, according to official tallies. Neither side reported any deaths or injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dam break added a stunning new dimension to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, now in its 16th month. Ukrainian forces were widely seen to be moving forward with a long-anticipated counteroffensive in patches along more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of front line in the east and south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was not immediately clear whether either side benefits from the damage to the dam, since both Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-held lands are at risk. The damage could also hinder Ukraine\u2019s counteroffensive in the south and distract its government, while Russia depends on the dam to supply water to Crimea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Kyiv officials claimed Russia blew up the dam to hinder the counteroffensive, observers note that crossing the broad Dnieper would be extremely challenging for the Ukrainian military. Other sectors of the front line are more likely avenues of attack, analysts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even so, 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 \u201cbetrays a lack of confidence, a lack of confidence, a profoundly defensive measure, the lack of confidence in Russia\u2019s longer-term prospects\u201d in the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 start of the war, said in an email that it wasn\u2019t clear if the damage was deliberate or simple neglect from Russian forces occupying the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Helms also noted a Russian history of attacking dams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities, experts and residents have expressed concern for months about water flows through \u2014 and over \u2014 the Kakhovka dam. After heavy rains and snow melt last month, water levels rose beyond normal levels, flooding nearby villages. Satellite images showed water washing over damaged sluice gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid official outrage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council. He alleged Russian forces set off a blast inside the dam structure at 2:50 a.m. (2350 GMT Monday) and said about 80 settlements were in danger. Zelenskyy said in October his government had information that Russia had mined the dam and power plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it \u201ca deliberate act of sabotage by the Ukrainian side \u2026 aimed at cutting water supplies to Crimea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both sides warned of a looming environmental disaster. Ukraine\u2019s Presidential Office said some 150 metric tons of oil escaped from the dam machinery and that another 300 metric tons could still leak out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine\u2019s President\u2019s Office, posted a video showing swans swimming near an administrative building in the flooded streets of Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka, a city in the Kherson region where some 45,000 people lived before the war. Other footage he posted showed flood waters reaching the second floor of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s Interior Ministry urged residents of 10 villages on the Dnieper\u2019s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson downriver to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances, and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian-installed mayor of occupied Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said it was being evacuated as water poured into the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s nuclear operator Energoatom said via Telegram that the damage to the dam \u201ccould have negative consequences\u201d for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is Europe\u2019s biggest, but wrote that for now the situation is \u201ccontrollable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.N.\u2019s International Atomic Energy Agency said there was \u201cno immediate risk to the safety of the plant,\u201d which requires water for its cooling system. It said that IAEA staff on site have been told the dam level is falling by 5 centimeters (2 inches) an hour. At that rate, the supply from the reservoir should last a few days, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plant also has alternative sources of water, including a large cooling pond than can provide water \u201cfor some months,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian authorities have previously warned that the dam\u2019s failure could unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where thousands of people live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development, a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, estimated that nearly 100 villages and towns would be flooded. It also reckoned that the water level would start dropping only after five-seven days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total collapse in the dam would wash away much of the broad river\u2019s left bank, according to the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Working Group, an organization of environmental activists and experts documenting the war\u2019s environmental effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that \u201ca global ecological disaster is playing out now, online, and thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Video posted online showed floodwaters inundating a long roadway; another showed a beaver scurrying for high ground from rising waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incident also drew international condemnation, including from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said the \u201coutrageous act \u2026 demonstrates once again the brutality of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnieper, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the country\u2019s drinking water and power supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s state hydro power generating company wrote in a statement that \u201cThe station cannot be restored.\u201d Ukrhydroenergo also claimed Russia blew up the station from inside the engine room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leontyev, the Russian-appointed mayor, said numerous Ukrainian strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant destroyed its valves, and \u201cwater from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably flow downstream.\u201d Leontyev added that damage to the station was beyond repair, and it would have to be rebuilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of targeting the dam with attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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