GENICHESK, June 10. /TASS/. The flooding set off by a Dnieper dam collapse is subsiding, and the water could recede to its previous level by June 16, the Kherson Region’s Interim Governor Vladimir Saldo said on Saturday.
Water levels dropped by 3 meters over the past 24 hours in Novaya Kakhovka, he said on Telegram. They are now 7 meters up from the usual levels, he said.
Floodwaters have also started to subside further downstream the Dnieper River, Saldo said. Workers started to clean up streets, he added.
Russia’s energy company Rushydro estimated that the water will drop to its previous level by June 16, the interim governor said.
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. Thirty-five settlements and areas have been affected by floodwaters. Residents of nearby settlements are being evacuated. Officials said eight people were killed during the flooding. Two of them were killed in an artillery strike on an evacuation center, according to the officials. 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.