MELITOPOL, June 6. /TASS/. The collapse of hydraulic sluice valves at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) so far does not pose a threat to the downstream Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told TASS.
"So far, there is no critical danger for the nuclear power plant. It is necessary to resolve this problem urgently, however, because in the medium and long term it poses a problem for the safety of the NPP and the ability to supply the plant with the necessary quantities [of reservoir water for its cooling system]," Rogov said.
Rogov also added that nothing exploded at the nuclear power plant, stating: "There was no explosion."
Overnight, media reports began circulating that Ukrainian forces had damaged the dam at the Kakhovka HPP located on the Dnieper River. Novaya Kakhovka Mayor Vladimir Leontyev confirmed that strikes on the plant in the early morning hours on Tuesday had caused the HPP’s hydraulic sluice valves to collapse, which in turn triggered an uncontrolled flow of water downstream.