A Russian-appointed mayor said the town of New Kakhovka in occupied southern Ukraine was under water after the dam of the same name failed early on Tuesday, triggering a wave of evacuations amid fears of widespread devastation. .
“The city is flooded,” Vladimir Leontyev told Russian state TV Rossiya-1. The city administration said on Telegram that a local emergency regime was introduced in the urban district of Nova Kakhovka.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry announced mass evacuations in liberated areas on the west bank of the Dnipro River near the dam, adding that they “are concerned” about people on the Russian-occupied east bank.
Drone video has emerged showing a deluge of water gushing from a sizable breach in the dam.
Police and emergency teams are on alert to evacuate civilians from possible flood zones as water gushes from the dam, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.
With the water level rising, the ministry urged everyone in the “danger zone” to turn off all electrical appliances, take documents and essentials and take care of “loved ones and pets”.
According to the ministry, the “danger zone” includes the villages of Mykolaivka, Olhivka, Liovo, Tiahynka, Poniativka, Ivanivka, Tokarivka, Poniativka, Prydniprovske, Sadove and the Korabel Island district of the city of Kherson.
“Trust the police, rescue teams and our defenders,” the ministry said in its statement. “The enemy is trying to spread disinformation, to absolve himself of responsibility for another crime.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council following the destruction of the New Kakhovka dam, council secretary Oleksii Danilov said on Tuesday.
(Posted by Fábio Mendes, with information from Reuters and Katharina Krebs and Anna Chernova from CNN)
Source: CNN Brasil
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