Russian authorities in the Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in the city after a dam broke and flooded the area.
The measure came into force at 12:00 local time (09:00 Lisbon), said the mayor of Nova Kakhovka Vladimir Leontiev.
Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of damaging a dam located on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, in an area occupied by Russian troops.
Ukrainian state hydropower company Ukrhydroenergo said the damage that occurred on Tuesday at the Kakhovka dam was irreparable and was caused by a “detonation inside the engine room” of the facility, located on the Dnieper River, Kherson.
“As a result of an explosion in the engine room, the Kakhovskaya HPP was completely destroyed,” the company said in an official statement.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine said that the partial destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Kherson could affect more than 80 settlements on the banks of the Dnieper.
According to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klymenko, 742 people were evacuated from the affected areas. The Military Administration of Ukraine estimates that 16,000 people could be directly affected.
Footage from international TV channels shows that the hydroelectric power plant located in Kherson is partially destroyed, but the situation on the spot has not yet been verified by independent structures.