GENICHESK, June 6. /TASS/. It is not currently feasible to forecast whether the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant (HPP) will continue to disintegrate after being damaged by shelling in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Novaya Kakhovka Mayor Vladimir Leontyev told reporters.

"We cannot currently say what will happen next with the Kakhovka HPP and whether it will continue to collapse," the mayor said.

The damage already inflicted on the hydropower plant is serious, Leontyev noted. "We need to assess the scope of the catastrophe created by the Ukrainian authorities," he added.

Ukrainian forces shelled the Kakhovka HPP in the early morning hours on Tuesday, presumably using missiles fired from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). Slide gate valves on the plant’s dam collapsed as a result of the shelling, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water.