Huge explosions breach the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine

THE EXPLOSIONS in the early morning were so strong that windows trembled a full 80km away. By daybreak on June 6th the impact was clear: blasts had punched a large hole in the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern , and there had also been severe damage to the hydro-electric station that it powers. The bridge alongside the dam was gone; and the fierce waters of the Dnieper were racing downstream. The consequences may turn out to be catastrophic. Several towns and villages in both Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-controlled parts of the are now at acute risk of flooding. The governor of the province, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that the water level in those areas would become critical by midday local time. The power station’s operators have confirmed that the now-submerged hydro-electric station is probably damaged beyond repair.