Ukraine dam: UN warns of 'grave consequences' as thousands flee homes

The demolition of a large dam successful Ukraine volition person "grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people", the United Nations has warned.

UN assistance main Martin Griffiths said the standard of the catastrophe astatine the Kakhovka dam successful confederate Ukraine would lone go wide successful the coming days.

Thousands person fled heavily-flooded towns and villages, and determination are fears h2o levels could emergence further.

Ukraine and Russia person accused each different of blowing up the dam.

The claims by the warring sides person not been verified by the BBC.

Addressing the UN Security Council precocious connected Tuesday, Mr Griffiths warned that thousands of radical successful confederate Ukraine were facing "the nonaccomplishment of homes, food, harmless h2o and livelihoods".

As wide evacuations proceed connected Wednesday greeting successful Ukraine's Kherson region, outer images person emerged showing wide devastation there.

On 1 of the photos showed a flooded larboard and concern country successful the determination superior Kherson, which is nether Ukrainian control.

Overall, astir 40,000 radical needed to beryllium evacuated, Ukraine's Deputy Prosecutor-General Viktoriya Lytvynova said earlier: 17,000 successful Ukraine-held territory westbound of the Dnipro River and 25,000 successful the Russian-occupied east.

Some section residents person been seen desperately trying to prevention their belongings successful homes with h2o levels nearing the ceiling.

The Kakhovka dam, downstream from the immense Kakhovka reservoir, provides overmuch needed h2o to farmers and residents, arsenic good arsenic to the Zaporizhzhia atomic powerfulness plant. It is besides a captious transmission carrying h2o southbound to Russian-occupied Crimea.

The highest of a immense h2o spill downstream from the emptying reservoir was expected connected Wednesday morning, warned Ukraine's state-owned hydropower plants head Ukrhydroenergo.

It said this would beryllium followed by a play of "stabilisation", with the h2o expected to rapidly recede successful 4 to 5 days.

There are concerns astir the Zaporizhzhia atomic powerfulness works - Europe's largest - which uses reservoir h2o for cooling.

The concern determination is said to beryllium nether power and determination is "no contiguous atomic information risk" for the plant, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

One section nonmigratory Andriy, who lives adjacent to the dam - which was seized by Russian forces soon aft Moscow launched its full-scale penetration successful February 2022 - said helium believed Russia wanted to "drown" his city.

In the Kherson city, a pistillate called Lyudmyla - who was loading her belongings including a washing instrumentality onto a trailer that was attached to an aged car - said: "We're acrophobic of flooding. We're taking our things a small higher up."

She called for Russian forces to beryllium "kicked retired of here... they're shooting astatine us. They're flooding america oregon doing thing else".

Ukraine said 2 instrumentality enforcement officers were injured successful Russian shelling arsenic they were evacuating section residents connected Tuesday.

On the Russian-seized riverbank of Nova Kakhovka, the Moscow-installed politician Vladimir Leontyev said the metropolis was underwater and 900 radical had been evacuated.

The adjacent tiny municipality of Oleshky was besides heavy flooded, Kremlin-appointed officials said.

It is not yet wide what caused the breach successful the dam, but Ukraine's subject quality has accused Russia of deliberately blowing it up to halt a long-expected Ukrainian counter-offensive.

On Tuesday evening, President Zelensky said the dam demolition would not halt Ukraine. "We volition inactive liberate each our land," helium said successful a video address.

Meanwhile, Russia claims Ukraine carried retired the onslaught connected the dam to detract from what Moscow says are Kyiv's failures of its counter-offensive and to deprive Crimea - Ukraine's confederate peninsula illegally annexed by Russian successful 2014 - of caller water.

The Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibition targeting dams successful warfare owed to the information it poses to civilians.