Ukraine war live updates: Major damage to Ukrainian dam floods 24 settlements; 1,300 Kherson residents evacuated so far

Two ships carrying a combined total of 68,100 metric tons of wheat left Ukraine’s ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The ships are destined for Turkey and Bangladesh, according to the U.N.-backed organization overseeing the export activity.

Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey agreed to extend the Black Sea grain deal on May 16 for another two months. Since mid-May, 24 ships have sailed under the agreement carrying a combined total of 990,114 metric tons of agricultural products.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine said around 1,300 people have been evacuated so far, as flooding affects the Kherson region following severe damage to the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka.

Ukraine’s emergency services, police and volunteers are involved in the evacuations, with around 80 settlements downstream at risk of flooding and a number reporting rapidly rising water levels.

The dam had held back 18 cubic kilometres (4.3 cubic miles) of water — a volume roughly equal to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Reuters noted.

Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said in his latest comments that 24 settlements have been flooded so far, as a surge of water flooded through the dam.

“We expect that the water level will be increasing within next 24 hours, so all departments will work around the clock,” he said on Telegram, according to a Google translation.

The Russian-installed Mayor of Nova Kakhovka said water levels in the town had risen above 11 meters.

Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of creating a man-made disaster by damaging the dam in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and of continuing to attack the area.

“Even after today’s terrorist attack, the Russian occupiers continue to shell the territory where evacuation measures are being carried out. And such shelling continues at this very moment,” Klymenko said.

Moscow alleged Ukraine “sabotaged” the dam to hurt Russian-occupied Crimea’s water supply and to cover up military failures. Ukraine denied this, saying Moscow had blown up the dam to try to stop its counteroffensive in southwestern Ukraine.

CNBC could not independently verify either claim.

— Holly Ellyatt

The Kremlin claimed Tuesday that Ukraine sabotaged the Kakhovka dam in Kherson in order to damage Russian-occupied Crimea’s water supply, and to distract from its military failures.

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “we can already unequivocally state that we are talking about deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side,” but did not present evidence to back the claim.

“It is obvious that this sabotage has as one of its goals to deprive the Crimea of water ... The water level in the reservoir is falling, and as a result, the water supply to the North Crimean Canal [providing the peninsula with fresh water] is reduced, reduced sharply,” he said, according to comments translated by NBC.

Ukraine denies damaging the dam, saying Russia had “blown-up” the dam in the early hours of Tuesday in order to prevent Ukraine’s counteroffensive from proceeding. Both sides are evacuating settlements vulnerable to flooding downstream of the dam, along the Dnipro river, amid fears of wide-reaching consequences of a “man-made disaster.”

Peskov said the “sabotage” could “potentially have very serious consequences.”

“Consequences for several tens of thousands of residents of the region, environmental consequences and consequences of a different nature that are yet to be established,” he said.

He added that damage to the dam, which is in a Russian-occupied part of Kherson, was “connected with the fact that having started large-scale offensive operations two days ago, the Ukrainian armed forces are not achieving their goals. These offensive actions are choking.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant should have enough water to cool its reactors for “some months” from a pond located above the reservoir of a nearby dam that has broken, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Tuesday, calling for the pond to be spared.

“It is therefore vital that this cooling pond remains intact. Nothing must be done to potentially undermine its integrity. I call on all sides to ensure nothing is done to undermine that,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

— Reuters

Russia has reportedly started to evacuate citizens affected by flooding following damage to the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

Kommersant newspaper reported that Vladimir Leontiev, the Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka where the dam is located in a Russian-occupied part of Kherson in southern Ukraine, had initiated the evacuation of residents of houses flooded due to major damage to the dam.

Leontiev initially said there was no damage to the dam but later said the damage had been caused by “night attacks” by Ukraine, without presenting evidence, and said artillery attacks continue on the city. Ukraine says Russia attacked the dam.

Kommersant cited Leontiev as saying that the evacuation of residents of about 300 houses on the banks of the Dnipro River in Nova Kakhovka had begun.

“Now we are resettling citizens who are directly on the shore. The city continues to be subjected to rocket attacks right now. I think that the residents of about 300 houses will be evacuated and are already being evacuated in order to avoid casualties,” he said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

Leontiev clarified that initially no one planned to carry out a large-scale evacuation, but in the end it was decided that people should be taken to “safe places” after the scale of the incident became clear.

The official believed that the evacuation of the entire city was not necessary and was quoted as saying: “According to forecasts, within 72 hours the water will fall to the usual level. But we need to survive these 72 hours.”

Leontiev said a decision may be made in the near future to evacuate residents and other settlements of the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region, but “everything here will depend on the current situation and the situation, no one gives any forecasts.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The destruction of a major Ukrainian dam could have a number of serious consequences — and officials are sounding the alarm over an “ecological disaster” because of massive flooding.

The breach has stoked concern about the status of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which receives cooling water from the reservoir upstream, while international policymakers have condemned the blast as a “war crime.”

Russia and Ukraine accused each other’s forces of an intentional attack on the Nova Kakhovka dam. CNBC has not been able to independently verify the claims.

Here’s a look at what we know so far.

— Sam Meredith

Emergency evacuations are ongoing in southern Ukraine as a major incident unfolds following severe damage to the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

A massive amount of water has been seen surging through the severely damaged down, putting towns and cities downstream at risk.

Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko posted on Facebook that “the task of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and the police now is to evacuate people as much as possible, to save them from the consequences of another terrorist attack by the evil empire,” referring to Russia.

Moscow denies any involvement in the incident, claiming Ukraine had attacked the dam.

Klymenko said that about 80 settlements were vulnerable to potential flooding, saying that “most of them are temporarily occupied by the enemy.”

“The water is coming.  The situation is complicated by the fact that some roads are being washed away which makes it impossible to reach some settlements,” Klymenko warned, saying evacuation teams are looking for other routes to get to people. 

As of 11:00 a.m. local time, 885 citizens in the Kherson region had been evacuated, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine following what Kyiv said was an attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

Earlier Tuesday, Zelenskyy said he had convened the meeting after the destruction of a part of the dam. He blamed the attack on “Russian terrorists.” Russia has denied attacking the dam, instead accusing Ukraine of undermining the structure.

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials posted a video purportedly showing the dam being breached and flooding downstream.

Thousands of people living downstream of the dam have been urged to evacuate their homes amid fears of huge destruction in the southern Kherson region that’s partially occupied by Russian forces.

Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said on Telegram that the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP “is the biggest man-made disaster in the world in recent decades, which kills the environment and will negatively affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the years to come.”

Yermak and other officials believe Russia attacked the dam in order to block Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Russia claimed Ukraine was conducting artillery strikes on the area of the dam. CNBC was unable to verify the claims made by either side.

— Holly Ellyatt