Ukraine claims Russia could flood swathes of Kherson region in face of counterattack

Ukraine has urged world leaders to ensure Moscow does not blow up a major dam on the Dnieper river and flood dozens of settlements, as blackouts continued to roll across the country after Russia bombarded its national grid.

“Russia is intentionally preparing the ground for a major disaster in Ukraine’s south. We have information that the Russian terrorists have mined the dam and sections of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant,” said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Destruction of the dam could release some 18 million cubic metres of water, inundate 80 towns and villages and the regional capital Kherson city, and create major water supply problems for the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and for Crimea, which receives water from a system of canals in the area.

“We must now all together – all Europeans, all world leaders, all international organisations – make it clear to the terrorist state that such a terrorist attack … will mean exactly the same as the use of weapons of mass destruction. The consequences for Russia should be corresponding,” Mr Zelenskiy said, without offering evidence for his claims.

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Russian officials have also accused Ukraine of planning to destroy the dam, as Kyiv’s forces slowly liberate occupied areas of Kherson and Moscow’s appointees in the region evacuate from the western to the eastern bank of the Dnieper and encourage tens of thousands of local residents to do the same.

Russia said on Friday that Ukrainian shelling of a major bridge over the river killed four civilians overnight; Kyiv acknowledged the attack but denied that civilians were killed, citing the nightly curfew imposed by Kherson’s occupation authorities.

The commander of Russia’s military in Ukraine has admitted that the situation in Kherson is “very difficult”, but occupation officials insist that their evacuation from the regional capital to the eastern bank of the Dnieper is not a prelude to Ukraine retaking the whole of a province that is a key gateway to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

“Today we are preparing the city of Kherson as a fortress for defence, and we are ready to defend to the last,” said Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the occupation administration in Kherson.

Russian missiles hit Ukrainian cities again on Friday as workers repaired damage done to power and other infrastructure by earlier waves of rocket and drone attacks.

State electricity firm Ukrenergo warned of more power cuts as it sought to stabilise the national grid and stop the badly weakened system becoming overloaded.

“We feel the effect of consumers trying to reduce electricity consumption, and we are grateful,” said Ukrenergo chairman Volodymyr Kudrytskyi.

“But unfortunately, the current voluntary restrictions are not enough … so we have been forced to apply restrictions to enterprises and to citizens too,” he added.

“In conditions of total terror and attacks on the power system, we all need to lower our own comfort level and give up certain habits regarding electricity use in peak evening hours. And then Ukrainian energy workers and society will get through this battle together.”

The European Union has imposed fresh sanctions on Iran for supplying Moscow with explosive “kamikaze” drones that it is firing at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, and the US said Tehran sent trainers to Crimea to help Russia’s military use the weapons; Russia and Iran deny the allegations.

Ukraine now fears that Iran will also provide Russia with ballistic missiles, and its air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said: “Ukraine currently doesn’t have effective air defence systems against ballistic missiles. Iran will probably supply them, unless the world finds a way to stop that.”