MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. No critical situations will occur even if the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is damaged as a result of sabotage by the Ukrainian armed forces, the Kherson Region’s deputy governor, Kirill Stremousov, has said.

"I would not overdramatize the situation as far as the Kakhovka Hydro is concerned. Even if the Khakhovka dam is hit, the water level will rise by one meter, one and a half meters at the most. That’s the maximum mark. This may happen only on certain parts of the right bank and left bank of the Kherson Region. A critical situation is ruled out," he said on Russia’s TV Channel One.

He explained that even if water started pouring in, there were canals capable of diverting the flow. There are such resources, he said.

"We are ready for that. Even if there are some acts of sabotage that may hit the dam. Also, we are strengthening our air defenses. Some say the Ukrainian military may use drifting mines to blow up the dam. But all this is too complex and unrealistic. Take the Antonovka bridge. The Ukrainian army has been trying to destroy it for about a month. But it is still there, although it remains closed to traffic. It has not collapsed, because it in the Soviet era it was built to last," Stremousov added.

Earlier, the Kherson Region’s acting governor Vladimir Saldo explained that in the event of damage to the dam of the Kakhovka Hydro, flood waters may be approximately one meter high in a number of areas on the right bank. The authorities are doing their utmost to help local residents be evacuated elsewhere. The left bank, on which a greater part of Kherson is located, is prone to non-critical flooding. In all, about 50,000-60,000 civilians are to be evacuated. On Wednesday, the first ferries departed from the river port of Kherson to Golaya Pristan and Alyoshki.

The Kakhovka Hydro is part of the Dnieper cascade of hydroelectric power plants five kilometers away from the city of Novaya Kakhovka, the Kherson Region.