On June 6, a massive breach in a dam controlled by Russia that holds water equivalent to the Great Salt Lake in Utah flooded a portion of the war-torn southern region of Ukraine. Both Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the catastrophic breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam. The dam supplies water to Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency stressed that there was no immediate nuclear safety risk at the plant even as Ukraine’s state atomic power agency, Energoatom, warned that the rapidly lowering water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir poses an additional threat to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Millions of gallons of water flooded the area, endangering the lives of about 22,000 people across 14 settlements in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.
While a Russian-installed official in the town of Nova Kakhovka said residents of some 300 houses had been evacuated, state-owned news agency, TASS, reported that the dam was likely impossible to repair. As a result, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency claimed that Russian forces had blown up the dam “in a panic,” calling it “an obvious act of terrorism and a war crime, which will be evidence in an international tribunal.” Russia’s mayor of controlled Nova Kahhovka city commented on the other hand, blaming the dam destruction on an “act of terrorism,” which it defines as an attack by Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is reportedly gearing up to launch its counter-offensive to drive Russian forces from territories they have taken over the past 15 months of fighting. However, Russia claims to have thwarted a major Ukrainian attack in the Donetsk region over this past weekend, and the defense ministry announced that another fresh Ukrainian assault had been repelled. Russia further claims to have inflicted huge losses on Ukrainian forces, with destruction of 28 tanks, including eight Leopard main battle tanks, and 109 armoured vehicles, leading to the loss of 1,500 troops.
Despite these claims, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has made no comments on any broad, significant new campaign, although in his nightly address on June 6, he praised “the news we have been waiting for” and forward moves in Bakhmut in Donetsk. Nonetheless, the success or failure of Ukraine’s counter-offensive, expected to be carried out with billions of dollars worth of advanced Western weaponry, is likely to influence the shape of future Western diplomatic and military support for the country.
In conclusion, the breach of the dam and the ensuing flood is likely to have a severe impact on people already caught in the crossfire of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the situation between the two countries remains volatile, with neither side taking full responsibility for the dam’s breach.
