GENICHESK, June 6. /TASS/. An emergency situation regime has been imposed in the Novaya Kakhovka municipal district following Ukraine’s missile strike on the Kakhovka hydropower plant (HPP) triggering un uncontrolled discharge of water.

A relevant resolution was signed by Novaya Kakhovka’s head, Vladimir Leontyev, on Tuesday to conduct emergency rescue and other urgent works to deal with the aftermaths of the plant’s destruction.

Ukrainian forces shelled the Kakhovka HPP in the early morning hours on Tuesday, presumably using missiles fired from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). The gate valves of the plant’s dam collapsed as a result of the shelling, causing water to pour out uncontrollably.

As of now, the water level in Novaya Kakhovka has risen to above ten meters. Fourteen settlements have been flooded and up to 80 are at risk of being inundated. People are being evacuated from neighboring settlements. However, according to local authorities, large-scale evacuations are not necessary. Farmlands along the Dnieper have been washed away. There is a risk of the drying out of the North Crimean Canal, which feeds water to Crimea.