GENICHESK, June 9. /TASS/. Water levels in Novaya Kakhovka, which was flooded after the collapse of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant (HPP), has dropped by 2.5 meters, acting governor of the Kherson Region Vladimir Saldo said on Friday.

"Water in the Novaya Kakhovka municipal district has subsided by 2.5 meters, to 9.5 meters," he wrote on his Telegram channel, adding that 22,273 houses in 17 settlements are flooded. According to forecasts, water levels may continue to rise for ten days, he added.

On the morning of June 6, the Ukrainian military launched a missile attack on the Kakhovka HPP, which resulted in the destruction of gate sluice valves at the HPP’s dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. According to emergency services, there are 35 communities in the flood zone, and residents of nearby villages are being evacuated. Eight people are reported to have died and more than 60 taken to the hospital.

The destruction of the hydro power plant has caused serious environmental damage with farmlands along the Dnieper River being washed away. Additionally, 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 dam as an act of deliberate sabotage by Ukrainian forces, adding that the Kiev regime should bear full responsibility for its consequences.