ENERGODAR, June 8. /TASS/. The water level in a canal running through the town of Energodar has dropped by 2.5 to 3 meters following the recent collapse of the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, according to observations by local residents.
Also, water in the Kakhovka reservoir near Energodar has retreated by dozens of meters. The situation is similar near the town of Vasilyevka.
According to Vladimir Rogov, the chairman of the We Are Together With Russia movement, the width of the Kakhovka reservoir has been reduced by at least 150 meters following the collapse of the dam that sat downstream of the Dnieper River. On June 7, Rogov said that the water in the Dnieper River stretch running through the Zaporozhye Region had receded by more than 30 meters from the shoreline. He stated that the Kakhovka reservoir would cease to exist within two to three days and the Dnieper would shape itself a new waterway.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces inflicted a missile strike on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the morning of June 6, destroying its valves and prompting an uncontrolled release of water. The water level in Novaya Kakhovka rose as high as 12 meters, before starting to subside. Thirty-five settlements and areas have been affected by floodwaters. Residents of nearby settlements are being evacuated. Officials said five people were killed by the flood, and more than 60 people were taken to hospitals.
The destruction of the dam has caused serious damage to the environment, washed away farmlands along the Dnieper and raised the risk of the North Crimean Canal drying up. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the attack on the Kakhovka HPP a deliberate act of sabotage by Ukraine and said that the Kiev regime should be held responsible for the consequences.