US intelligence 'points to Russia' being behind dam attack

The US government has intelligence leaning towards blaming Russia for the destruction of a massive dam in Ukraine, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

The Biden administration is working to declassify some of the intelligence, the US network said.

However, in a White House briefing, spokesperson John Kirby appeared to refute those claims, saying Washington could not say “conclusively” who was responsible.

James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, has denounced the destruction of the Kakhovka dam as a “war crime” as thousands fled the region.

Mr Cleverly also hinted Russia was behind the “abhorrent act”, saying: “Intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime.”

Ukraine on Tuesday said Russian forces were shelling civilians as they fled the surging waters in Kherson city.

Moscow has denied the claims and urged the world to “condemn criminal acts” of Ukraine after the dam damage.

07:40 PM

That's all for today

Thanks for joining us on another busy news day in Ukraine.

A recap of the highlights:

• The White House said the US could not “conclusively” say who was responsible for the attack”

• Washington said it was clear that the destruction on the Dnipro River had likely caused “many deaths” and the evacuation of thousands of Ukrainians

• The destruction could “have a devastating impact on Ukraine’s energy security”, the White House said

• Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said appeared to blame Moscow, saying: “This is an aggression by the Russian side to stop the Ukrainian offensive”

06:44 PM

White House: 'Too soon to know what effect blast will have on Ukraine's counter offensive'

Speaking from the White House press podium, Mr Kirby said it was too soon to know what effect the dam blast will have on Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations.

Mr Kirby said the White House was “assessing” what impact an attack would have on “supplemental funding” from the US.

He said: “If we feel like we need to go back to Congress for additional funding for Ukraine, we’ll do that.

”But we’ll do that at the appropriate time, and now is not the appropriate time to have that conversation.”

06:39 PM

US: Dam destruction could have 'devastating impact' on Ukraine's energy security

John Kirby, one of Mr Biden’s main spokesmen on the Ukraine war, is currently briefing White House reporters.

Mr Kirby said the US is “closely monitoring” the impact of the dam attack but could not say “conclusively” who was responsible.

He said: “We’ve seen the reports that Russia was responsible for the explosion at the dam, which I would remind, Russian forces took over illegally last year, and have been occupying since.

“We’re doing the best we can to assess those reports. We are working with Ukrainians to gather more information, but we cannot say conclusively what happened.”

The spokesman said it was clear that the destruction on the Dnipro River had likely caused “many deaths” and the evacuation of thousands of Ukrainians.

Mr Kirby added: “Its destruction could very well have a devastating impact on Ukraine’s energy security and it will certainly have an impact on Ukraine’s canal system.”

06:25 PM

Germany: 'This is an aggression by the Russian side to stop the Ukrainian offensive'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is blaming Russia for the attack on the Kakhovka dam, saying the long-feared move represented a new dimension in the conflict.

“By all accounts, this is aggression by the Russian side to stop the Ukrainian offensive, to defend its own country. This shows that this is a new dimension,” Mr Scholz said at a townhall organised by broadcaster RTL.

Mr Scholz said he intended to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin again, although he had not done so for a long time and now was not the right time.

05:51 PM

US intelligence: Moscow behind dam attack

US intelligence is pointing to Russia being behind the destruction of a massive dam in Ukraine, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

A torrent of water burst through the massive dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, flooding a swathe of the war zone and forcing villagers to flee.

Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the Nova Kakhovka dam while the Kremlin said it was Ukraine that had sabotaged the dam.

05:20 PM

UN: Dam burst 'another devastating consequence' of Russian invasion

We have resumed our live blog to bring you the latest developments as it emerges the US and Europe knew about a Ukrainian plot to bomb the Nord Stream pipeline months before the attack.

You can read the full details of that story here.

Meanwhile, the United Nation has described the Ukrainian dam burst as “another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

The UN Security Council will meet later on Tuesday to discuss the dam at the request of both Russia and Ukraine.

We’ll keep you updated with all the latest developments.

02:59 PM

Trudeau: Ukraine dam collapse another horrific consequence of Russian war

We are getting more international reaction to news of the dam.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minsiter, said the destruction of a Ukrainian dam “was another example of the horrific consequences of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine”.

Mr Trudeau, speaking to reporters in Ottawa, said the disaster was “absolutely devastating for lives and livelihoods across the region”.

02:35 PM

Watch: Civilians search for neighbours in the flooded streets of Kherson as shelling continues

02:11 PM

Ukraine names Russian unit it claims blew up dam

Oleksii Danilov, the Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, has named a Russian unit it claims blew up the Kakhovka dam.

He claimed that the dam was blown up by Russia’s 205th Motorized Rifle Brigade.

In comments made to Ukrainian news outlet Liga, he claimed that brigade members were stationed at the power plant near Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka and controlled the facility.

01:47 PM

EU's Borrell says Russia takes aggression to new level with dam blast

Russia has taken its aggression against Ukraine to a new level with the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in the south of Ukraine, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has said.

“Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian civilian critical infrastructure reached an unprecedented level today with the destruction of the dam at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant,” Borrell said in a statement.

“The European Union condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms. It represents a new dimension of Russian atrocities and may constitute a violation of international law, notably international humanitarian law.”

Ukraine and its Western allies accused Russia of blowing up the dam in a deliberate war crime.

01:46 PM

Zelensky says 'world must react' to Kakhovka dam attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the “world must react” to the Kakhovka dam attack, blaming Russia for the breach which has caused extensive flooding.

“The world must react,” he said, adding that Russia had carried out “an internal explosion of the structures” of the plant at 2:50 am local time (2350 GMT).

“This is just one Russian act of terrorism. This is just one Russian war crime,” he added, accusing Russia of committing an act of “ecocide.”

“Russia is at war with life, with nature, with civilisation,” he added. “Russia must leave Ukrainian land and must be held fully accountable for its terror.”

12:55 PM

Estonian PM: We must stop this cycle of aggression

Kaja Kallas, the Estonian Prime Minister, has reacted to news of the attack.

12:47 PM

'Water is rising'

The Russian-occupied city of Nova Kakhovka in southern Ukraine - home to the dam that Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of attacking - is “flooded”, officials said Tuesday.

Russian television showed images of the city that lies on the Dnipro river with its central square entirely flooded and swans swimming near the main Soviet-era house of culture.

“Water is rising,” Vladimir Leontyev, the Russian-installed head of the city administration, said on Telegram.

He said 53 buses were being sent by authorities to take people from Novaya Kakhovka and two nearby settlements to safe areas.

“We are organising temporary accommodation centres with hot meals,” he said.

“Emergency rescuers, city administration workers and soldiers are at work,” he said. “Help will be given to all those who need it.”

Leontyev posted a video of himself looking at the city from a high-rise building with the flooded central square and the Dnipro river in the background.

12:35 PM

European court condemns Russia over Navalny 2020 poisoning

Europe’s top rights court has condemned Russia for failing to properly investigate the 2020 poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny which the West says was an assassination bid.

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Russia had notably failed “to explore the allegations of a possible political motive for the attempted murder, as well as possible involvement of state agents”, unanimously finding Russia had violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

It said Russia had refused to open criminal proceedings into the poisoning, which led to Navalny falling into a coma and being put on life support.

The anti-corruption campaigner, seen by supporters as a potential political rival of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill while on a domestic flight from Siberia.

Navalny was later evacuated to Germany where he recovered. He has been behind bars since he returned to Moscow in early 2021.

The ECHR noted that tests by the German government had shown “definite proof” of the presence of the Soviet-era chemical nerve agent Novichok in Navalny’s system.

The court said the inquiry by Russia was not open to scrutiny and Navalny had not been allowed to participate.

12:14 PM

Kremlin claims that Kakhovka dam attack 'deliberate sabotage' by Kyiv

The Kremlin has claimed that the attack on a major dam in Moscow-occupied southern Ukraine was “deliberate sabotage” by Kyiv, which wanted to cut off Russian-occupied Crimea from water.

Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations over damage to the major Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River.

“We can already unequivocally declare (this was) deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, claiming that one of the aims was to deprive Crimea of water.

He said the Kremlin “decisively rejected” accusations by Ukraine and the West that Moscow’s forces were behind a blast that caused the damage.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss what it called a “Russian terrorist attack” on the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.

Volodymr Zelensky has condemned Russian forces as “terrorists” following the destruction of the dam.

12:01 PM

EU says dam blast shows "barbaric" nature of Russian aggression

The EU has condemned the destruction of a major hydroelectric dam in the south of Ukraine as a new example of the “barbaric aggression” by Russia against Ukraine.

“This is a new sign of escalation, bringing the horrific and barbaric nature of Russian aggression against Ukraine to unprecedented levels,” EU Commission spokesman Peter Stano said at a press conference in Brussels.

11:59 AM

Russian-installed authorities plan to evacuate three districts after dam breach

The Russian-installed administration of Ukraine’s Kherson region said that it was preparing to evacuate three districts after the overnight breach of the Kakhovka dam, holding 18 cubic km of water.

In a statement on Telegram, the administration said evacuations were being prepared in the Nova Kakhovka, Golo Pristan and Oleshky districts, the latter two across the mouth of the Dnipro river from the Ukrainian-held regional capital, Kherson.

Russia controls the left, eastern bank of the Dnipro, and Ukraine the other side.

11:39 AM

Houses floating under water

11:38 AM

Nato chief says Russia cannot block Ukraine's membership

Russia does not have a veto on Ukraine’s eventual membership of the Western defence alliance Nato, its chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

“All allies agree that Nato’s door remains open, that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance and that Russia does not have a veto,” he said.

The Nato chief was in the Slovakia capital Bratislava for talks with the presidents of the alliance’s eastern flank, the so-called Bucharest Nine group.

The Bratislava talks came ahead of next month’s Nato summit in Vilnius, where Stoltenberg said the alliance will take “very significant” decisions.

“We will strengthen our support for Ukraine with a multi-year package of assistance to help them transition from Soviet-era to Nato standards, and bring Ukraine closer to Nato,” he said.

“We must also agree a stronger commitment to increase defence investments, with two percent of GDP as a minimum,” he added.

11:33 AM

150 tonnes of engine oil in river after dam attack

Ukraine said 150 tonnes of engine oil had spilled into the Dnipro river after an attack on the Kakhovka dam and warned of a “negative impact” for the environment.

“One hundred fifty tonnes of engine oil got into the Dnipro river due to the explosion,” Daria Zarivna, communications adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said on social media.

11:28 AM

Ukraine seeks UN Security Council meeting on dam blast

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss what it called a “Russian terrorist attack” on the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.

The ministry also called in a statement for the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s board of governors to discuss the incident and demanded new international sanctions on Russia, and in particular the Russian missile industry and nuclear sector.

11:17 AM

Kakhovka dam blast will not prevent Ukraine's counteroffensive, says general

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine will not prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing, a senior Ukrainian commander said.

“As for preventing our offensive actions, the military command has taken into full account such treacherous enemy actions, and it should not prevent our advance in those directions where there may be spillage of water,” Serhiy Naev, commander of the joint forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was quoted as saying by the state news agency Ukrinform.

10:56 AM

Ukraine investigating dam blast as war crime, prosecutors say

Ukraine is investigating the blast at a major hydroelectric dam in the south of the country as a war crime and as possible criminal environmental destruction, or “ecocide”, the office of its prosecutor general said.

The prosecutors said in comments sent to Reuters that they had started “urgent investigations” into the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.

Ukraine is one of a small number of states, including Russia, that have criminalised ‘ecocide’ through domestic legislation.

Kyiv defines ecocide as “mass destruction of flora and fauna, poisoning of air or water resources, and also any other actions that may cause an environmental disaster” in Article 441 of its criminal code.

10:50 AM

Aftermath of flooding in pictures:

10:39 AM

Kyiv accuses Russia of blowing up dam to stop Ukrainian forces crossing Dnipro

Russia blew up the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine to prevent Ukrainian forces crossing the Dnipro river, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command said.

“This is a hysterical reaction,” spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk told an online briefing. “They were aware that the movement of the (Ukrainian) defence forces would take place and in this way tried to influence the defence forces so that the crossing of the Dnipro, which they feared, would not happen.”

10:32 AM

Ukraine says situation at nuclear plant not critical after dam blast

The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is not critical after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the head of Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company has said.

Energoatom chief Petro Kotin said the fall in the levels of the Kakhovka reservoir would not affect the level of water in cooling ponds at the facility’s spent nuclear fuel storage pools.

09:58 AM

Where is the Kakhovka dam?

09:43 AM

Zelensky: Russian forces blew up Kakhovka hydro station from inside

Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station in southern Ukraine overnight from inside the facility, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.

“Tonight at 02:50, Russian terrorists carried out an internal detonation of the structures of the Kakhovskaya HPP. About 80 settlements are in the zone of flooding,” he said

09:37 AM

'A new stage of Russian aggression'

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine is a fundamentally new stage of Russian aggression, a senior Ukrainian security official said.

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said Russia had moved from trying to justify its invasion of Ukraine with what he called propaganda myths to declaring its true objectives openly - “to ruin Ukraine, kill Ukrainians, destroy the economy” and civilian “life-support structures.”

09:34 AM

Pictured: Foreign Secretary James Cleverly operates an unmanned demining vehicle in Kyiv

09:27 AM

Thousands of civilians at risk, says Nato secretary general

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, has condemned the “outrageous” destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

09:21 AM

Beavers spotted in Kherson

Beavers have been spotted on the streets of Kherson after the dam was blown up.

09:18 AM

'The biggest environmental disaster in decades'

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, has commented on the news that the Kakhovka power plant has blown up.

08:52 AM

Pictured: Beavers on the streets of Kherson

08:51 AM

Kakhovka dam blast is Russian attempt to 'raise the stakes', says Zelensky aide

The destruction of a dam in a Russian-occupied part of southern Ukraine is an attempt by Moscow to “raise the stakes” in its full-scale invasion and stoke fears of a nuclear catastrophe, a senior Ukrainian official said.

“Today, the world must...understand that this is an attempt by terrorists to raise the stakes and scare everyone with a possible nuclear disaster,” Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration, wrote on Telegram.

08:27 AM

Crimea head says dam blast could lead to water supply problems for peninsula

The Russian-backed governor of Crimea said that there is a risk that water levels in the North Crimea Canal, which carries fresh water to the peninsula from the Dnipro river, could fall after the blast at the Nova Kakhovka dam.

In a statement on Telegram, Sergei Aksyonov said that Crimea had sufficient water reserves for the moment, and that the level of risk would become clear in the coming days.

Crimea is heavily dependent on water from the canal, which carries water from the Dnipro river, upstream of the dam.

The canal was blocked by Ukraine after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. The blockade led to acute water shortages on the peninsula that ended only after Russian forces seized the canal in March 2022.

08:21 AM

European Council President blames Russia for the attack

Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, has reacted to news of the attack.

08:08 AM

Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up dam to slow offensive

Kyiv has accused Moscow of destroying a dam in order to slow down a Ukrainian offensive, saying the consequences were “already catastrophic”.

“The terrorists’ goal is obvious - to create obstacles for the offensive actions of the armed forces,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said.

08:04 AM

Kakhovka hydro plant 'totally destroyed' after blast in engine room

The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in a Russian-occupied area of southern Ukraine has been “destroyed completely” and cannot be restored after a detonation inside the engine room, Ukraine’s state hydroelectric company said.

In a statement from the company, shared by a Ukrainian adviser on Twitter, the company said the reservoir was expected to run out within the next four days.

08:00 AM

Foreign Secretary blames dam blast on Russian invasion

James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, has blamed the destruction of a dam in southern Ukraine on Russia’s invasion.

“I’ve heard reports of the explosion on the dam and the risk of flooding. It’s too early to make any kind of meaningful assessment of the details. But it’s worth remembering that the only reason this is an issue at all is because of Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” he said while visiting Ukraine.

“We’ll continue to assess the developing situation, but the best thing Russia could do now is withdraw their troops immediately.”

07:54 AM

Ukraine says Russian forces blew up Kakhovka dam in 'panic'

Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka dam in a Russian-occupied part of southern Ukraine “in a panic”, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency has said.

“The occupiers blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Reservoir in a panic - this is an obvious act of terrorism and a war crime, which will be evidence in an international tribunal,” it said in a statement on Telegram.

07:45 AM

16,000 people in 'critical zone'

Anton Geraschchenko, an interior ministry adviser, has said that evacuation trains will transport people to safety from Kherson.

There was flooding in eight areas along the Dnipro river, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson miliary administration, said.

07:33 AM

Upto 80 settlements at risk of flooding

The dam, 30 metres tall and 3.2 km long, was built in 1956 on the Dnipro river.

It holds water equal to that in the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah and also supplies water to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which is also under Russian control.

“The scale of the destruction, the speed and volumes of water, and the likely areas of inundation are being clarified,” the Ukrainian military said.

Separately, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that up to 80 settlements were at risk of flooding after what he described as the destruction of the station’s dam by Russian forces.

07:23 AM

Situation at nuclear plant 'under control' after dam blast

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam by Russian forces in southern Ukraine poses a threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but the situation at the facility is under control, Ukraine’s state atomic power agency has said.

“Water from the Kakhovka Reservoir is necessary for the station to receive power for turbine capacitors and safety systems of the ZNPP,” Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said. “Right now the station’s cooling pond is full: as of 8:00 a.m., the water level is 16.6 meters, which is sufficient for the station’s needs.”

“Currently, the situation at the ZNPP is under control, Ukrainian personnel are monitoring all indicators,” it said.

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency said that its experts were closely monitoring the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant upstream, and there was “no immediate nuclear safety risk” at the facility.

According to the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Working Group, a total collapse in the dam would wash away much of the left bank and a severe drop in the reservoir has the potential to deprive the nuclear plant of crucial cooling, as well as dry up the water supply in northern Crimea.

07:20 AM

Zelensky blames Russia for the damage

06:42 AM

Ukrainians told to evacuate

People living near the dam have been told to leave.

Authorities in Kherson are predicting that water levels will reach “critical” point in the next five hours.

Thousands of Ukrainian residents had already been encountering flooding risk as water levels rise in Dnipro river, and Russian forces flooded and mined fields in recent weeks ahead of Ukraine’s counter-offensive.

06:15 AM

Dam blast would be blow to counter-offensive

President Zelensky has previously suggested that Russia would not hesitate to cause an environmental disaster for the sake of gaining a military advantage.

As Ukraine plans its counter-offensive, any flooding if Kherson could complicate plans for attacks in the contested southern region.

The Kakhovka dam has long been considered a possible military target.

Consider the damage that 18 million cubic metres of water could create while engulfing nearby villages and any of the remaining 284,000 people who lived nearby before the invasion.

Destroying the infrastructure could cut the whole of southern Ukraine of its water supply. That includes the water usually supplied to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant.

05:56 AM

Zelensky to hold emergency talks

We’re now hearing that Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, is calling security advisors together for an emergency meeting.

Ukrainians are waking to the news that a major dam has been damaged overnight. Their government is yet to confirm the extent of the destruction.

05:27 AM

Nova Kakhovka Dam 'attacked'

The large Nova Kakhovka Dam in the Russia-controlled parts of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine was destroyed and the territory is flooding, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source close to the matter.

TASS cited the source as saying that it was a quiet night and that there were no air strikes on the dam overnight.

Kyiv and Moscow are each blaming the other side for the damage.

“The Kakhovka (dam) was blown up by the Russian occupying forces,” the South command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Tuesday on its Facebook page.

“The scale of the destruction, the speed and volumes of water, and the likely areas of inundation are being clarified.”

Russian news agencies said the dam, controlled by Russian forces, had been destroyed in shelling while a Russian-installed official said it was a terrorist attack - Russian shorthand for an attack by Ukraine.

05:25 AM

Good morning

Follow the live blog for the latest news out of Ukraine on Tuesday.