In the early hours of Tuesday, the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine was destroyed. The breach of the dam left 42,000 people at immediate risk of flooding, and is a blow to Ukrainian food and water supplies.
Ukraine has accused Russia, which has been in control of the dam for more than a year, of mining and blowing up the structure. Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the incident as an ‘environmental bomb of mass destruction’.
Dan Sabbagh reports from Kherson on the devastating humanitarian and environmental impact. He also tells Michael Safi what this catastrophe could mean for the war.
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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