According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine will not let the explosion of the dam on the Dnipro in the south of the country prevent it from recapturing occupied territories. "The disaster at the Kakhovska hydroelectric power station caused by Russian terrorists will not stop Ukraine and the Ukrainians," said Zelenskyy in his evening video message yesterday.

Zelenskyj: Russia will only pay a higher price

According to Zelenskyj, the dam was blown up to slow down the Ukrainian counter-offensive. "We will still liberate our entire country," he announced. Such attacks could not prevent Russia's defeat, but only meant that Moscow would have to pay higher damages in the end. The Ukrainian Attorney General has already appealed to the International Criminal Court to investigate the explosion.

Meanwhile, Selenskyj promised help to the people in the region. The government is doing everything to save flood victims and to provide the population with drinking water. The head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, accused Russia of an "unprecedented war crime". The aim was to prevent the advance of Ukrainian troops in the region, the Ukrainian general staff said in its morning bulletin in Kiev.

The water continued to rise in the flooded villages today. Ukrainian and Russian media showed flooded houses and villages. People waded to safety in the water. Rescue workers carried elderly people who cannot walk to dryness on their hands. Thousands lost their belongings in the war-torn region.

Kiev and Moscow blame each other before the UN Security Council

Before the UN Security Council in New York, Kiev and Moscow blamed each other for the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. At an emergency meeting called at short notice, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, Serhiy Kislizia, spoke of an "act of ecological and technological terrorism".

The blast was "another example of Russia's genocide against the Ukrainians." The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebensia, said the incident was due to "deliberate sabotage by Kiev" and classified as a war crime. The dam was used for an "unimaginable crime".

Moscow accuses Kiev of terrorist attacks against civilians

Shortly before the meeting of the UN Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry had already accused Ukraine of having destroyed the Kakhovka dam and, for its part, spoke of terrorism. "The incident is a terrorist attack aimed at fundamentally civilian infrastructure," the agency said in a statement. Russia initiated the session of the UN Security Council to condemn the great "humanitarian and ecological catastrophe" triggered by Kiev.

According to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, this is a planned and targeted action by the Ukrainian military as part of its own counter-offensive. Kiev not only fired at the dam, but also raised the water level to a critical level by opening a lock on the upper reaches of the Dnipro. The collapse of the dam would harm agriculture and ecosystems in the Kherson region and affect Crimea's water supply.

Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, receives water from the Dnipro via a canal. If this was temporarily drained after 2014, Russia also reopened the canal towards Crimea for irrigating the peninsula after occupying the Kakhovka dam.

In his video message, Zelenskyy, on the other hand, presented a reason why Russia was cutting off the water supply to the Crimean Peninsula, which she controls, with such a blast. According to him, Moscow is already prepared to lose Crimea, which has been annexed since 2014.

Ministry: Fields could become desert after dam destruction

According to initial estimates, after the explosion of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture expects around 10,000 hectares of agricultural land on the northern bank of the Dnipro in the Cherson region to be flooded. On the southern bank, in the Russian-occupied area, a multiple of this area will be flooded, the ministry announced on its website. Detailed information should therefore be announced in the coming days when the ministry has got an accurate picture of the situation.

In addition, "the man-made disaster will disrupt the water supply of 31 field irrigation systems in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions," the ministry said. "The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant will mean that the fields in southern Ukraine could turn into deserts as early as next year," it said.

London: More flooding possible

After the destruction of the Kachowka dam, British secret services expect further consequences. "The structure of the dam is expected to continue to deteriorate over the next few days, leading to further flooding," the UK Ministry of Defense said. From photos and videos it appears that part of the dam is still standing. The authority did not provide any further information, including who might be responsible for the destruction.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on a trip to the US that British intelligence services were still examining evidence of the destruction. It is currently too early to make a final judgment on the causes of the dam collapse. Should Russia be responsible, it would represent "the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the war began" and a "new low" in Russian aggression, Sunak said.

France offers help to Ukraine after dam destruction

France has offered assistance to Ukraine after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. "France stands ready to provide assistance to the Ukrainian authorities to respond to the consequences of the partial destruction of the dam," the French Foreign Ministry said in a letter.

We are very concerned about the humanitarian, environmental and security implications of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. France described the destruction as a "particularly serious act". "It illustrates once again the tragic consequences of an attack for which Russia bears sole responsibility."

THW prepares for aid transports

The federal government has also announced aid to Ukraine. Germany will stand by Ukraine to deal with this disaster amidst the war of aggression waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). Above all, one wants to help to be able to take care of evacuated people.

"The THW is therefore already preparing German aid deliveries for the affected region at high pressure," said the minister. A statement from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief stated that the Ukrainian Civil Protection (DSNS) would be supported with the delivery of 5,000 water filters. The filters each ensured the supply of clean water to a family.

Moscow's UN Ambassador: Humanitarian aid must come through Russia

Meanwhile, after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the Russian leadership only wants UN aid workers to enter the area controlled by Moscow if they travel there via Russia. "They simply refuse to leave the Russian Federation," Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Nebensia, told the UN Security Council emergency meeting.

Access is "allowed for the assistants, provided they enter from the correct area." Nebensja also indicated that he would support an independent investigation into the background to the destruction.

What is important today

Flooding after the dam burst in Kachowka will cause major flooding downstream. Rescue workers have to evacuate dozens of towns to save the people in the region.