June 7, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The war in Ukraine has brought an enormous human toll: Thousands of civilians have been killed, millions have been forced to flee overseas, it has destroyed homes, schools and hospitals. But beyond the immediate, visceral impacts, the conflict is also causing a climate disaster at a time when the world is already struggling to meet climate goals, according to a new report.

A team of carbon accounting experts evaluated the climate impact of the first year of the conflict, which started in February 2022.

They found that a total of 120 million metric tons of planet-heating pollution can be attributed to the first 12 months of the war, according to the report published Wednesday. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions of Belgium, or those produced by nearly 27 million gas-powered cars on the road for a year.

The report, titled Climate Damage Caused by Russia’s War in Ukraine, follows on from a first interim assessment presented at the UN COP27 climate conference in November 2022.

Read more about this here.

US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns is pictured during the World Peace Forum in Beijing, China, in July 2022.

US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns expressed hope Wednesday that China “will make the right choice” on pushing Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

“That’s what the world wants and expects. I think the jury’s out. I can’t predict what the government of the People’s Republic will do. But that’s what we’re obviously standing for, and they know our position,” he added.

Burns said he recently met with the Chinese envoy who traveled to Ukraine, Li Hui.

Some background: China has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine or call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory.

A vaguely worded 12-point position paper on China’s vision for the “political settlement” of the conflict, released earlier this year, said the “legitimate security concerns” of “all countries” should be be addressed. It also said the “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity” of all countries must be upheld.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China in the coming weeks, two US officials and a source familiar with the matter told CNN. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that US President Joe Biden will “at some point” meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as well.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pictured making a statement to the press on June 6, in Ankara, Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed in separate phone calls Wednesday to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to establish an international commission to investigate the dam damage in the Kherson region. 

President Erdogan stated in both calls that an international commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations, and the international community, including Turkey, for a detailed investigation into the “explosion” at the Nova Kakhovka dam, according to a statement made by the Turkish presidency’s Directorate of Communications. 

During the separate calls with both leaders, President Erdogan stated that it is important to carry out a comprehensive investigation “that leaves no room for suspicion.”

On the call with Erdogan, Putin accused Ukraine of committing terrorist acts.

“A clear example of this is the barbaric action to destroy the [Kakhovka] hydroelectric power station in the Kherson region, which led to a large-scale environmental and humanitarian catastrophe,” according to a Kremlin readout of the call.

Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the dam breach, which occurred in territory occupied by Russia. The cause remains unclear, and CNN analysis of satellite images shows the dam was damaged just days before it collapsed.

Some more context: A major dam and hydroelectric power plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine was destroyed early Tuesday, prompting mass evacuations and fears for large-scale devastation as Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other. Ukraine accused Moscow’s forces of committing an act of “ecocide.” The Kremlin denied involvement and accused Ukraine of “deliberate sabotage” of the dam.

The dam is a critical piece of infrastructure: It supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the Crimean peninsula.

The Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine collapsed early Tuesday, forcing thousands to flee their homes and threatening vital water supplies as flooding threatened parts of the southern Kherson region.

The critical dam is the largest reservoir in Ukraine in terms of volume. It’s the last of the cascade of six Soviet-era dams on the Dnipro River, a major waterway running through southeastern Ukraine. There are multiple towns and cities downstream, including Kherson, a city of some 300,000 people before Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor.

Local resident Tetiana holds her pets, Tsatsa and Chunya, as she stands inside her flooded house after the destruction of the dam. 

A flooded neighborhood is seen in Kherson, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 7, after the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam.

People are seen in and on top of an army truck as emergency responders work during evacuations following the Nova Kakhovka dam breach. 

See more photos from the aftermath of the dam collapse here.

Ten thousand hectares of agricultural land are expected to flood after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed, according to the Ukrainian Agricultural Ministry.

The figure only accounts for the Ukraine-controlled part of the area, which is the right side of the bank, the ministry said, adding that it would be “several times more on the left bank.”

The collapse could turn fields in southern Ukraine “into deserts,” the ministry added.

The following areas are “without a source of water” after the collapse, according to the ministry: 

A satellite image shows the damaged Nova Kakhovka dam on June 6.

Ukrainian troops witnessed Russian soldiers being swept up in floodwaters and fleeing the east bank of the Dnipro River after the collapse of the Nova Khakovka dam, an officer in Ukraine’s armed forces said. Many Russian troops were killed or wounded in the chaos, according to the officer. 

Capt. Andrei Pidlisnyi said when the dam collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning “no one on the Russian side was able to get away. All the regiments the Russians had on that side were flooded.” 

Pidlisnyi told CNN he believed the Russians had deliberately attacked the dam to disrupt Ukrainian forces’ plans for an upcoming offensive. 

Pidlisnyi explained that the lay of the land around the river meant that Russia’s military — located on the east bank — suffered serious impacts in the dam’s breach. His unit was able to watch the events unfold through the use of drones and troops on the scene.

The Russian units in harm’s way may not have been warned, possibly to maintain the element of surprise, Pidlisnyi said.

Pointing blame: Ukraine’s government has echoed Pidlisnyi’s contention that Russia deliberately blew up the dam, while the Kremlin has said it was Kyiv’s forces that carried out an attack. 

In fact, evidence to conclusively support either side’s claim is yet to emerge, while analysis of videos of the dam, and its subsequent breach, and in particular examination of satellite imagery, suggest the collapse could have been the result of structural failure since the Russians occupied the dam in March last year.

Residents stand on an embankment of the flooded Dnipro river as smoke rises from shelling on the opposite bank, in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 6.

More than 24 hours after the breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam, the search and rescue operation in Kherson remains in full swing.  

Authorities and volunteers continue to use wooden boats and rubber dinghies to evacuate people — and a large number of cats and dogs — who were left stranded as water levels have continued to rise overnight.

They have been working relentlessly since the city started to flood and now, exhausted and overwhelmed, are very much a facet of this tragedy.

The people coming off the boats are visibly shaken by the ordeal — some breaking down into tears as they finally reach dry land. The animals also seem in distress. The constant howling and meowing echo through the scene as operations continue.

Some areas that were accessible on foot on Tuesday are now completely underwater — in some locations, the water is up to four meters (13 feet) deep. There is, however, a sense from authorities that water levels, although still rising, are now doing so at a slower pace.

As the humanitarian crisis continues to unravel before our eyes, the war is ever-present and Kherson remains very much a frontline city. 

Outgoing and incoming artillery — rocket, mortars, etc — could be heard every hour throughout the day on Tuesday and then through the night and into Wednesday morning.

Shelling seems to have calmed down in the past few hours, but sporadic fire is still heard in the distance.

The Ukrainian government nonetheless promising the rumbles of war will not impact search and rescue operations.

 No respite, no truce even amidst the tragedy.

An elderly woman is evacuated from a flooded area in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 7.

At least seven people are missing following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam on Tuesday, the occupied town’s Moscow-appointed mayor told Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti on Wednesday. 

Ukraine, meanwhile, says it has evacuated more than 1,500 people from Ukrainian-controlled flooded Kherson areas. Authorities added in a post on Telegram that “20 settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River and more than 1,900 houses were flooded in Kherson region.”

Below are the latest developments:

The roof of a house is seen in the flooded Dnipro river in Kherson, Ukraine on June 6.

Ukrainian police say they have received three calls regarding missing persons in the Kherson region flooding as a result of the burst dam upstream.

Writing on Telegram the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Leonid Tymchenko said, “As of this morning, we have received three calls to the 102 line regarding people who went missing under special circumstances in the Kherson region.”

On the Russian-controlled side of the river, the Russian-installed mayor of Kherson said that he is aware of at least seven people being missing. 

Some context: There are multiple towns and cities downstream, including Kherson, a city of some 300,000 people before Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor.

Between 35 and 80 settlements were expected to be flooded due to the breach, Zelensky said, and aid efforts are ongoing to get drinking water, hygiene kits and other supplies to affected neighborhoods.

In the low lying districts of Kherson, a CNN team on the ground saw residents evacuated from their homes carrying their possessions and pets in their arms as rising floodwaters penetrated one city block in less than an hour.

As the area is on the front lines of the conflict, the rising water brings with it an added danger of mine and explosive ordnance contamination.

Both Moscow and Kyiv noted the humanitarian and environmental consequences, while blaming each other for the dam’s collapse. CNN has not been able to establish either claim.

Fighting around Bakhmut “remains the epicenter of hostilities,” Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said Wednesday. 

Speaking on Telegram, Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces have made gains ranging from 200 meters (656 feet) in some areas to 1,100 meters (3,609 feet) in others, but did not say where exactly. 

Maliar also noted that Wagner fighters had largely withdrawn, noting they “remain in some places in the rear” and the large majority of the fighting is now being conducted by regular units of the Russian Federation, including airborne units.

The head of the Wagner military group in Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused Russia of sabotaging his withdrawal from Bakhmut last week, claiming exit routes were mined.

Some context: Bakhmut sits toward the northeast of the Donetsk region, about 13 miles from the Luhansk region, and had long been a target for Russian forces. Since last summer the city has been a stone’s throw from the front lines.

Last month, Russian forces said they had finally captured the embattled eastern city. It followed a months-long slog where Russian soldiers had to grind for every inch of territory.

Flooding is pictured in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 6.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam has left “hundreds of thousands of people without normal access to drinking water.”

In a statement posted on Telegram, Zelensky said that prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, either side of the banks of the Dnipro River were home to “at least 100,000 people” but since the war that number has fallen to “tens of thousands.”

The collapse of the dam has now led to more evacuations from the Russian-occupied Kherson region.

In a statement on Telegram, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, said more than 1,400 people were also evacuated across the Kherson region, while more than 1,800 houses on the west bank of the Dnipro River have flooded.

This comes after Russian-installed mayor of Kherson claimed that seven people are currently missing, while Ukrainian troops say they witnessed Russian soldiers being swept up in floodwaters.

Meanwhile, 300 zoo animals died Tuesday after the collapse of the dam, according to the Ukrainian defense ministry .

Both Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the breach of the dam. CNN has not been able to verify these claims.

Ukrainian forces carried out heavy shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region overnight, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram Wednesday.

According to Gladkov, the shelling targeted several areas in the border region of Belgorod, including Shebekino. 

“460 units of various ammunition were fired in the Shebekino urban district, 26 drops of explosive devices from UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were recorded,” Gladkov wrote, adding that in the town of Shebekino strikes were carried out mainly on residential areas.

Galdkov added that the villages of Zhuravlyovka, Tsapovka, Stary, and Kozinka also came under fire, with no reported injuries.

Some context: Russia has seen the effects of its war on Ukraine increasingly reverberate back onto its own territory in recent months.

Belgorod has seen a series of drone attacks. Last week, a “massive” shelling attack injured four people in the region. Eight apartment buildings, four homes, a school and two administrative buildings were damaged during the shelling in Shebekino, a village in the border region of Belgorod.

A drone attack was also launched on Russia’s Bryansk region last Wednesday, state news agency RIA Novosti reported. About 10 drones tried to attack the Klimovsky district and were shot down or intercepted, RIA reported citing emergency services.

People are evacuated from flooded areas in Kherson, Ukraine on June 7.

Some 1,548 people had been evacuated from Ukrainian controlled flooded areas of the Kherson region by 11:30 a.m. local time, the State Emergency Services and National Police of Ukraine confirmed Wednesday.

Thousands have been evacuated and there are fears of an ecological catastrophe after the Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant collapsed on Tuesday.

Authorities added in a post on Telegram that “20 settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River and more than 1,900 houses were flooded in Kherson region.”

The operation to save people has involved 1,700 workers, 300 pieces of equipment and 33 water vessels.

One of the pieces of equipment used in the rescue was the “Bohun” all terrain vehicle that can move freely through water and mud.

Some context: Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations over the dam’s destruction, without providing concrete proof that the other is culpable. It is not yet clear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or whether the breach was the result of structural failure. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, said Russia bears “criminal liability” and Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating the dam incident as a case of “ecocide.”

Concerns are now turning to the dangers to wildlife, farmlands, settlements and water supplies from the floodwaters and possible contamination from industrial chemicals and oil leaked from the hydropower plant into the Dnipro River.

The Russian-installed mayor of the occupied Kherson region has claimed Ukrainians have “harmed themselves” with the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant along the Dnipro River.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the breach of the dam.

CNN has not been able to establish what caused the dam to collapse and it remains unclear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or if the collapse was the result of structural failure.

Speaking on Russian state TV, Vladimir Saldo claimed the incident will benefit the Russian military.

He went to say this was contrary to the “expectation that blowing up the dam will give some strategic or even operational advantage to the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine).”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that Russia bears “criminal liability” and that Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating the dam incident as a case of “ecocide.”

Saldo went on to claim that according to “preliminary forecasts” between 22,000 and 40,000 people were in the disaster zone. He added that the seven people who may be missing could be on the islands further down stream but will only be able to confirm that once they have access to these areas.

Flooded streets are seen in Kherson, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 7.

China is “seriously concerned” about the collapse of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam, the country’s foreign ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

Wang added that Beijing hopes that all parties will commit to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine and work together to promote a de-escalation of the situation. 

“We call on all parties concerned in the conflicts to follow international humanitarian law and to do their utmost to protect the safety of civilians and civil facility,” Wang said. 

Meanwhile, the European Union yesterday condemned the incident as “a new dimension of Russian atrocities.”

Some context: Thousands of people have been evacuated and there are fears of an ecological catastrophe after the Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant collapsed on Tuesday.

Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations over the dam’s destruction, without providing concrete proof that the other is culpable. It is not yet clear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or whether the breach was the result of structural failure. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, said Russia bears “criminal liability” and Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating the dam incident as a case of “ecocide.”

Concerns are now turning to the dangers to wildlife, farmlands, settlements and water supplies from the floodwaters and possible contamination from industrial chemicals and oil leaked from the hydropower plant into the Dnipro River.

The House of Culture on a flooded street in Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson Region, on June 6.

The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine has sparked fears of an ecological catastrophe, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the situation as “an environmental bomb of mass destruction.”

Water levels on Wednesday continued to rise after the Russian-occupied dam and hydro-electric power plant was destroyed early Tuesday, forcing more than 1,400 people to flee their homes and threatening vital water supplies as flooding inundated towns, cities and farmland.

Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations over the dam’s destruction, without providing concrete proof that the other is culpable. It is not yet clear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or whether the breach was the result of structural failure. 

Zelensky, however, said Russia bears “criminal liability” and Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating the dam incident as a case of “ecocide.”

Concerns are now turning to the dangers to wildlife, farmlands, settlements and water supplies from the floodwaters and possible contamination from industrial chemicals and oil leaked from the hydropower plant into the Dnipro River.

The head of Ukraine’s main hydropower generating company told CNN the environmental consequences from the breach will be “significant” and damaged equipment at the plant could be leaking oil.

Read the full story here.

At least seven people are missing following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam on Tuesday, the occupied town’s Moscow-appointed mayor told Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Leontiev said 900 people had been evacuated so far and the water levels in Nova Kakhovka were decreasing after the dam’s collapse caused extensive flooding.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a news conference in Bujumbura, Burundi, on Tuesday, May 30.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused Ukrainian forces of causing the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, echoing earlier comments from the Kremlin.

In a statement, the ministry said the dam’s destruction had “led to a devastating humanitarian and environmental disaster,” adding that huge impacts would be felt on the ecosystems along the Dnipro River.  

Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of being behind the dam’s collapse, although it is not clear whether the facility was deliberately attacked or if the breach was the result of structural failure. 

On Tuesday, the Kremlin called the incident an act of “sabotage by the Kiev regime.” 

CNN analysis found the water levels in the reservoir behind the dam were at record highs last month, according to the Hydroweb information service. Levels had plummeted earlier in the year, the same data shows, prompting Ukrainian officials in February to warn of possible shortages in drinking water supplies, and water for agricultural use. 

Ukrainian view: On Tuesday, a Ukrainian lawmaker told CNN “only” Russia could have caused the dam to collapse as the facility is located in Russian-occupied territory. Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, said the dam’s collapse had drawn Ukrainian military personnel away from a potential counteroffensive.

Russian strikes hit residential areas, killing one person and wounding another over the past day in Kherson, according to Ukrainian authorities, as the southern region reels from flooding brought by the collapse of a major dam.

The frontline city of Kherson was shelled nine times, the administration added.

More than 1,400 people have been evacuated in Kherson as of early Wednesday following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam on Tuesday, according to the administration.

Earlier Wednesday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said a number of civilians had been killed and injured in Russian strikes on Ukraine over the past day.

Water flows strongly through a breakthrough in the Kakhovka dam in Kakhovka, Ukraine, on Tuesday, June 6.

Water levels in the occupied town of Nova Kakhovka have fallen 35 centimeters (nearly 14 inches) from the height of the flooding as of early Wednesday following the nearby dam’s collapse, a Moscow-backed official said.

Vladimir Leontiev, the Russia-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, said hundreds of people had been evacuated in the town.

Remember: Leontiev on Tuesday initially denied information about the dam collapsing in an interview with Russian state media, calling it “nonsense.” He later performed a U-turn, confirming the destruction of parts of the dam in what he called “a serious terrorist act,” though he claimed at the time there was “no need to evacuate.”

Rescue workers help residents to evacuate from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine on June 6.

More than 1,400 people have been evacuated in the Kherson region as of early Wednesday following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, a Ukrainian military official said.

In a statement on Telegram, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, said more than 1,800 houses on the west bank of the Dnipro River have flooded.

According to a CNN team on the ground on Tuesday, water had spread across several blocks and into the center of Kherson city, cutting off some areas entirely.

Prokudin said Wednesday the water level is expected to rise by another meter (3.2 feet) over the next 20 hours.

Local residents react after evacuating from a flooded area in Kherson, Ukraine on June 6.

Flooding has damaging critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in neighboring Kherson on Tuesday, a Ukrainian official said.

Ivan Kukhta, head of the Snihurivka town military administration in Mykolaiv, said a bridge in Yelyzavetivka village is destroyed, and another in Halahanivka village is “completely flooded.”

Kukhta said authorities are evacuating residents from a number of homes in Snihurivka.

The dam’s collapse has prompted mass evacuations and fears of large-scale devastation as Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the incident.

Inna Sovsun speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine on February 16, 2021.

Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, on Tuesday blamed Russia for the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, claiming it was part of Moscow’s efforts to prevent a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Kyiv and Moscow have both blamed each other for the breach of the dam and hydroelectric power plant in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region. However, it remains unclear what caused the breach. A CNN analysis of satellite imagery shows the facility was damaged just days before suffering the structural collapse.

Sovsun said the dam’s collapse had drawn Ukrainian military personnel away from a potential counteroffensive amid mass evacuations and fears of large-scale devastation.

“People who could have been engaged in the counteroffensive efforts are now doing evacuation, are now helping with humanitarian aid,” she said.

Some context: US and Western officials see signs that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia is beginning and have noted a “substantial increase in fighting” in the east of the country as Ukrainian troops probe for weaknesses in Russian defensive lines, a senior NATO official said on Tuesday. But the destruction of the dam could complicate some of Ukraine’s plans, officials told CNN.

A number of people have been killed and wounded in Russian strikes on Ukraine over the past day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said early Wednesday.

The military said all 35 missiles launched by Russia had been destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses.

A satellite image shows damaged Nova Kakhovka Dam in Kherson region, Ukraine, June 6.

A critical dam and hydroelectric power plant in the Russian-occupied southern Kherson region of Ukraine suffered a collapse early Tuesday.

A UN aid chief said the breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam is possibly the “most significant incident of damage to civilian infrastructure” since the start of Russia’s invasion.

The incident has prompted mass evacuations, flooding and fears of large-scale devastation. According to the Nova Kakhovka zoo, 300 animals died Tuesday in the collapse’s aftermath.

Ukrainian troops witnessed Russian soldiers being swept up in floodwaters and fleeing the east bank of the Dnipro River after the collapse, an officer in Ukraine’s armed forces said. Many Russian troops were killed or wounded, the officer said. 

Here’s what you should know to get up to speed:

A house in a flooded area is seen in Kherson on June 6.

Nadejda Chernishova breathes a sigh of relief as she steps off a rubber dinghy, moments after being rescued from her flooded home in Kherson.

“I’m not afraid now, but it was scary in my home,” the 65-year-old retiree said. “You don’t know where the water is going, and it was coming from all sides.”

Her house in one of the lower lying districts of Kherson was flooded after the Nova Kakhovka dam, 58 kilometers (36 miles) up the Dnipro River in Russian-occupied Ukraine, was destroyed earlier on Tuesday.

Chernishova left most of her small world behind, bringing only what she was able to muster: two suitcases and her most prized possession.

“This is my cat Sonechka, a beauty,” she said, lifting the lid of a small her pet carrier and revealing a frightened animal. “She is scared, she is a domestic cat who has never been outside.”

Chernishova is one of hundreds being evacuated by Ukrainian authorities in Kherson, where the water has spread across several blocks and into the center of the city, cutting off some areas entirely.

Prokudin, who has been overseeing rescue efforts in towns and cities downstream from Nova Kakhovka, said the operation has become more difficult with time as flood waters continue to rise.

“If in the morning we could do it with cars, then with trucks, now we see that big cars can no longer pass,” he explained. “The water has risen so much that we are now using boats. About eight boats of various types are currently working to evacuate people from the area.”

CNN witnessed the speed at which the waters kept rising, with the water penetrating one block into the city in less than an hour. The flow of water visibly increasing to the naked eye.

Read more here.

The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam is possibly the “most significant incident of damage to civilian infrastructure” since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The dam is a lifeline in the region as a critical water source for millions of people in Kherson as well as Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, he said, and a key source of agricultural irrigation in southern Kherson and the Crimean peninsula — impacting farming and food production.

Griffiths added that a severe impact is expected in Russian-occupied areas where humanitarian agencies are still struggling to gain access.

The UN aid chief, speaking to the Security Council on Tuesday, also highlighted the danger fast-moving water poses to the risks of mine and explosive ordnance contamination, displacing the projectiles to areas previously assessed as safe.

Griffiths pointed out the impact the dam’s collapse will have on electricity generation and the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine on May 28, 2023.

The critical Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was damaged just days before suffering a major structural collapse in the late evening of Monday or early hours of Tuesday, a CNN analysis reveals. 

CNN cannot independently verify whether the damage to the road bridge played a part in the dam’s collapse, or whether it was destroyed in a deliberate attack by one of the warring parties.

Satellite imagery from Maxar shows the road bridge that ran across the dam was intact on May 28, but imagery from June 5 shows a section of the same bridge missing. Analysis of lower resolution satellite imagery suggests the loss of the bridge section took place between June 1 and 2. 

Some background: Meanwhile, data shows water levels in the reservoir behind the dam were at record highs last month, according to the Hydroweb information service. Levels had plummeted earlier in the year, the same data shows, prompting Ukrainian officials in February to warn of possible shortages in drinking water supplies, and water for agricultural use. 

US and Western officials see signs that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia is beginning and have noted a “substantial increase in fighting” in the east of the country over the past 48 hours as Ukrainian troops probe for weaknesses in Russian defensive lines, a senior NATO official said on Tuesday.

While preliminary attacks, also known as “shaping” operations, have been underway for at least two weeks, Ukrainian forces have in the past several days begun testing Russian positions with artillery strikes and ground attacks to find vulnerable areas they can break through, the NATO official and a senior European military intelligence official told CNN.

The destruction of a sprawling dam in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson region, which triggered a wave of evacuations on Tuesday as floods of water spilled from the Nova Kakhovka hydro-electric plant, could complicate some of Ukraine’s plans, officials told CNN.

The dam’s destruction could now make it more difficult for Ukrainian troops to cross the Dnipro River and attack Russian positions there, said two Western officials. And the dam’s collapse has already created a significant humanitarian challenge into which the Ukrainian government will need to address and funnel resources.

The US and the Western intelligence community are still examining who is responsible for the dam’s destruction, but officials are leaning toward Russia as the culprit, the official said.

Read more here.

The US received intelligence from a European ally last year that the Ukrainian military was planning an attack on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines three months before they were hit, three US officials told CNN.

The attack on the pipelines last September has been condemned by US officials and Western allies alike as a sabotage on critical infrastructure. It is currently being investigated by other European nations.

The intelligence assessment was first disclosed by The Washington Post, which obtained the document from a trove of classified documents allegedly leaked on the social media platform Discord by Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira.

CNN has not seen the document but the three officials confirmed the US was told about the Ukrainian plans.

But, the intelligence also said that Ukraine’s military operation was “put on hold.”

CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian government for comment.

White House National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby declined to address the reporting directly on Tuesday.

Read more here.