A major dam located in a Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine has been blown up by Russian forces, according to Ukraine’s military.
"The Russian Army has committed another act of terror," said Oleksandr Prokudin, the Ukraine-appointed head of the Kherson region military administration, in a video on Telegram. "It has blown up Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant. The water will reach critical level in five hours. Evacuation in the area of danger has started."
"All services are working," Prokudin added, urging residents along the East Bank of the Dnipro River to "leave dangerous areas immediately."
Drone video emerged late Monday showing a deluge of water gushing from a sizeable breach in the dam.
Ukraine's Operational Command South on Tuesday confirmed the dam's destruction in a post on their official Facebook saying they were assessing the scale of the destruction and calculating likely areas of flooding.
It is impossible to say who is responsible for the damage caused to the dam at this time.
However, the Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontiev, on Tuesday denied the dam had collapsed in an interview with Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti, calling it "nonsense."
The torrent of water seen escaping from the dam in the video has the potential to cause major destruction around Kherson city and other populated areas along the Dnipro River, according to analysts who have been fearing this breach could occur in the fighting.
The video posted on social media has been geolocated by CNN.
