Local authorities fear a rise in water levels on a river close to the front with the Russians, creating a risk of flooding for neighboring communities.
A Russian strike “damaged” a dam on a reservoir in eastern Ukraine, causing water levels to rise on a river and creating “a threat” of flooding for neighboring localities, said the regional governor on Monday, November 11. “The Russians damaged the Kurakhové reservoir dam”in the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram. The damaged dam is located near the village of Stari Terny.
“This attack potentially threatens residents of localities located on the Vovcha River in the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions”he added. The water level of this river near the village of Velyka Novossilka “rose 1.2 meters” more “no flooding has been reported so far”said the governor. This reservoir is located near the town of Kurakhové, which had 10,000 inhabitants before the war and is currently located in the immediate vicinity of the front, in an area where Russian troops have been advancing for weeks.
We cannot examine the dam due to incessant bombing. »
Roman Padoune, head of the Kurakhové military administration
The head of the Kurakhové military administration, Roman Padoune, told Ukrainian media that the waters had risen in several villages downstream of the reservoir. “We cannot confirm the type of damage, nor their severity”however added this official, quoted by the Suspilné television site. “We cannot examine the dam due to incessant bombing”he regretted.
In June 2023, a huge dam dating from the Soviet era located in the Kherson region (southern Ukraine) was partially destroyed, leading to the spilling of billions of liters of water downstream and the flooding of dozens of villages on the banks of the Dnieper River. kyiv accused Russia, whose troops controlled the dam at the time, of blowing it up to thwart a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive. Moscow, for its part, accused Ukraine. Dozens of people were killed in floods that followed the dam failure, which also caused significant environmental damage in southern Ukraine.
