Beaver roams streets of Kherson after dam 'destroyed by Russia'

Watch: Dog rescued from flood and beaver in street after Ukraine dam destroyed

Fears of an ecological disaster sparked by the destruction of the Kherson dam are growing as the scale of the incident becomes clearer.

One video purportedly from the area shows a beaver on the streets of the city in Ukraine after the attack, which has been blamed on Russia.

A video shared by multiple reputable accounts on social media shows the animal on a footpath in Kherson.

Another clip being shared appears to show a dog being rescued from flood waters.

Elsewhere, a zoo called Kazkova Dibrova, located on the bank of the Dnieper River, was completely flooded and all 300 animals were dead, a representative said via the zoo’s Facebook account, according to the Reuters news agency.

“The park was mined and it was impossible to evacuate the animals. We tried to save them. Every day, under fire, two workers risked their lives to go to Dibrova to feed the animals,” the representative said.

“Now Russia has destroyed everything. Our soul is torn by pain.”

Other reports said only ducks and swans had survived.

Ukraine's military accused Russia of blowing up the Nova Kakhovka dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Drone footage released on Tuesday and tweeted by Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky appears to show water gushing from the breached dam. Russia has blamed Ukraine for the attack.

Ukrainian officials said that more than 80 villages have been flooded after the dam was breached and that thousands of people have been evacuated.

The video of the beaver was shared by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

He tweeted: "Beavers were spotted in Kherson. There are a lot of beavers in that area, their habitat has been destroyed.

"Animals are also victims of the ecological catastrophe Russia caused by blowing up Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant."

Read more: The importance of the destruction of the Kherson dam explained

There are fears the breach of the dam could cause an ecological disaster.

Gerashchenko said: "Severe damage has been caused to the ecosystem in the south of Ukraine and the whole Black Sea and the Sea of Azov regions. Animals, birds and fish are dying in large quantities.

"Russia is a threat to the Earth's environment."

Igor Zhovkva, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said the aftermath of the dam's destruction was "really terrible".

Watch: Russia blows up major dam in Kherson region, says Ukraine

He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: “I know that there was a blast and it was made on purpose because you cannot ruin this dam (only) by shelling, because other claims were that it might be ruined by shelling.

“But terrible aftermath and the terrible ecocide is really, really, really terrible.”

He said the reservoir held more than 18 million cubic metres of water which supplied a large agricultural area, and has now flooded more than 80 villages.

According to Ukraine, Russia detonated the dam from inside the engine room.

The dam's destruction could hinder the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which began on Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the blame for the attack lay with Ukraine.

"Clearly one of the aims of this act of sabotage was to deprive Crimea of water - the water level in the reservoir is dropping and, accordingly, the water supply to the canal is being drastically reduced," he said.

UK foreign secretary James Cleverly said: “The destruction of Kakhovka dam is an abhorrent act.

“Intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime.

“The UK stands ready to support Ukraine and those affected by this catastrophe.”

There are concerns that the damage to the dam could have broad consequences: flooded homes, streets and businesses downstream; depleted water levels upstream that help cool Europe’s largest nuclear power station; and drained supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed.