UNITED NATIONS, June 6. /TASS/. At least 16,000 people have lost their homes following the breakdown of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant (HPP) dam, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.
"At least 16,000 people have already lost their homes — with safe and clean drinking water supplies at risk for many thousands more," h said, adding that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners in coordination with the Ukrainian government are sending relief aid, including drinking water and water purification tablets, to the affected areas.
"We will continue our humanitarian work - and our appeals for urgent safe and secure humanitarian access," he pledged.
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 12 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.