GENICHESK, June 8. /TASS/. A rupture of the dam at the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant (HPP) has caused the flooding of 14,000 houses in 15 populated localities of the Kherson Region, Russian Deputy Emergencies Minister Anatoly Suprunovsky told reporters on Thursday.

"As of today, the situation is as follows, 14,000 houses have been flooded in 15 populated localities. The evacuation of the affected people is underway now. As many as 4,280 residents have been evacuated so far," he said.

According to the deputy emergencies minister, most of them are staying at their relatives’, while 508 people are being accommodated at temporary shelters.

As the emergency services reported previously, the Nizhnedneprovsky nature reserve, five cemeteries, a cattle burial ground, a hospital and a kindergarten were also inundated. More than 170 children and 42 disabled people were among the evacuees.

On June 6, the Ukrainian military launched a missile attack on the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant, which resulted in the destruction of gate sluice valves at the HPP’s dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. In nearby Novaya Kakhovka, the water level at the reservoir reached 12 meters, but is now receding. According to emergency services, there are 35 communities with a population of over 22,000 in the flood zone, and residents of nearby villages are being evacuated. The destruction of the hydro power plant has caused serious environmental damage with farmlands along the Dnieper River being washed away. On top of that, there is a risk that the North Crimean Canal may run low and become too shallow.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the strike on the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant as an act of deliberate sabotage by Ukrainian forces, adding that the Kiev regime should bear all of the responsibility for its consequences.