European Union reacts to Ukraine dam blast, condemns Russia for 'taking aggression to new level'

The European Union, on Tuesday, while reacting to the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, condemned Russia for taking its aggression against Ukraine to a new level and for targeting civilians in the country.

"The destruction of the Kakhovka dam brings the targeting of civilian infrastructure and civilians in Ukraine to an unprecedented new level. And of course, the European Union condemns strongly this horrific and barbaric attack," Commission spokesperson Peter Stano told a news conference.

Ukraine and its Western allies condemned Russia for destroying the dam, calling itan intentional war crime.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russian forces of destroying the dam saying that Russia had controlled the dam and hydroelectric plant for over a year.

"Tonight, they blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station. At 02:50, the explosion happened. It was an absolutely deliberate, prepared explosion," Zelensky said atthe Bucharest Nine Meeting.

"It is physically impossible to blow it up somehow from the outside - with shelling. It was mined. It was mined by the Russian occupiers and blown up by them," he said.

However, Kremlin released a statement saying that Ukraine was the one that blew up the dam to divert attention from a counterattack Moscow asserts is sputtering.

Some Russia-installed officials said that the dam burst on its own.

EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell in a written statement said that the explosion put the lives of civilians at risk and is affecting access to cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (ZNPP).

Destruction triggers evacuation

A vast Soviet-era dam in the Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine was destroyed on Tuesday. According to both the Ukrainian and the Russian forces, the destruction has unleashed a flood across the war zone. The destruction of the major dam has flooded nearby regions, prompting Ukraine to evacuate 16,000 residents from the "critical zone".

Unverified visuals on social media show the reservoir "emptying into the Dnipro" river after a series of intense explosions around the Kakhovka Dam. Other videos show water surging through the remains of the dam, with bystanders expressing their shock, sometimes in strong language.

As per a report by Russia's TASS agency citing Moscow-backed officials in the Zaporizhzhia region, there was no "critical danger" to the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia facility.

Significance of Nova Kakhovka dam

The dam, which is 30 metres tall and 3.2 kilometres (around two miles) long, was built in 1956 on the Dnipro River.

It holds significant amounts of water. As per Reuters, it holds water equivalent to the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah.

The Nova Kakhovka Dam supplies water to Crimea, a region annexed by Russia in 2014 and to Europe's largest nuclear plant, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which is also under Russian control.

(With inputs from agencies)

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