June 6, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Tuesday that it's clear that the collapse of the dam in the southern Kherson region is "another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

He added that the UN doesn't have access to information to independently verify the cause.

"We have all seen the tragic images coming out today of the monumental humanitarian, economic and ecological catastrophe in the Kherson region of Ukraine," Guterres told reporters.

"Today’s tragedy is yet another example of the horrific price of war on people. The floodgates of suffering have been overflowing for more than a year," he added. "That must stop. Attacks against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure must stop."

Guterres said that in response, the United Nations and humanitarian partners are "rushing support in coordination with the Government of Ukraine – including drinking water and water purification tablets and other critical assistance."   

The United Nations Security Council will meet at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday afternoon to discuss the dam collapse, a US official told CNN.

CNN's Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting to this post.

Ukraine is trying to evacuate residents of the Kherson region "as quickly as possible" after a major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told CNN on Tuesday. 

Svyrydenko told CNN that 80 settlements are currently in a flood zone.

Ukraine has accused Moscow’s forces of committing an act of "ecocide." The Kremlin denied involvement and accused Ukraine of "deliberate sabotage" of the Nova Kakhovka dam, which supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and the Crimean peninsula.

"We are absolutely sure that it is not structural damage, we are absolutely sure that it was done by the Russian side. And it's a big man-made disaster," Svyrydenko said, adding, "It was used as an ecological weapon."

The Pope's envoy met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss a peace plan. Here are some other headlines from the region as Russia's war in Ukraine continues. 

Vatican envoy: The special Vatican envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, met with Zelensky and other government officials in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine's proposed peace plan, Zelensky said on Telegram Tuesday, calling on the Vatican to "contribute to the implementation of the Ukrainian peace plan."

Serbia not opposed to indirect ammunition supply to Ukraine: Despite the country's neutral status, Serbian President Aleksander Vucic says he is not opposed to the country’s ammunition indirectly ending up in Ukrainian hands, despite his country’s commitment to remaining neutral in the war in Ukraine. This comes after a report claimed that the leaked Pentagon documents show Serbia had sent or was planning to send lethal aid to Ukraine, which the defense minister had denied.

US House speaker receives pushback on Ukraine aid comments: A handful of defense hawks pushed back against US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's assertion yesterday that a Ukraine supplemental package had no chance in the House. Taking such a stand puts him at odds with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Longtime appropriator Rep. Tom Cole also said that the aid should be provided if needed, arguing that those who don't want to help Ukraine and view it as going above the top-line defense number agreed to in the debt ceiling are "wrong."

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. 

Around 600 people who live in flooded parts of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson have been evacuated to the city center, according to Roman Mrochko, the Ukrainian head of the Kherson city military administration. 

In a video posted to his Telegram channel, Mrochko filmed himself standing in a flooded area that he identified as the city’s Korabel district, where he said the water level “has risen 2.5 meters (about 8 feet).”

“I would like to urge all the residents who have not yet evacuated to do so, because, according to preliminary estimates, the water level will continue rising until 5 a.m. (local) tomorrow,” he added. 

Mrochko said “approximately 29 streets and lanes” had been flooded.

He said the neighborhoods experiencing rising floodwaters include: Naftogavan, Hydropark, Ostrivske highway, Mykhailivska street, Koshevyi descent, Prychalna, Flotski Lane, Nasypnyi Lane.

He added that authorities had cut off energy and gas supplies to the Ostriv district “to prevent any accidents.” 

Remember: Russian troops captured the city of Kherson at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, but withdrew from the city to the east bank of the Dnipro River in October 2022 when Ukrainian forces mounted a counteroffensive. Russia has still controlled half of the entire Kherson region.

Kyiv and Moscow exchanged accusations over the collapse of a sprawling dam in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Kherson region, triggering a wave of evacuations as floods of water spilled from the Nova Kakhovka hydro-electric plant.

Here are the latest developments:

The Russian Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case probe into the collapse of the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, leading to flooding in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

The committee opened the case under the charge of a terrorist act committed by a group of individuals, causing significant property damage and other severe consequences, follows from the official statement on Telegram. 

The flooding of settlements in the Kherson region was caused by the destruction of the power station by the armed forces of Ukraine, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.

What Ukraine is saying: Meanwhile, multiple senior Ukrainian officials and military figures accused the Kremlin of sabotaging the dam Tuesday, saying Russian forces blew up the dam “in panic."

The Russia-installed Nova Kakhovka administration said Tuesday it was preparing a “planned evacuation” of citizens due to rising water levels caused by damage to the Kakhovka dam, urging residents to gather essentials.

A major dam and hydro-electric power plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine collapsed early Tuesday, prompting mass evacuations and fears for large-scale devastation as Ukraine accused Moscow’s forces of committing an act of “ecocide.”

The critical Nova Kakhovka dam spans the Dnipro River, a major waterway running through southeastern Ukraine and there are multiple towns and cities downstream, including Kherson, a city of some 300,000 people before Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor.

A critical piece of infrastructure, the dam holds back around 18 cubic kilometers in the Kakhovka Reservoir, about equal to the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah, according to Reuters news agency.

The 30-meter-high, 3.2-kilometer (2 miles)-long structure is one of six dams along the Dnipro and supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

It also supplies water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which lies upstream and is also under Russian control.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command said the dam’s collapse will “certainly” affect the operation of the nuclear power plant but there was “no need to escalate the situation now and draw the most critical conclusions.”

And the International Atomic Energy agency said “no immediate nuclear safety risk” exists at the Zaporizhzhia plant and their experts are “closely monitoring the situation.”

Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom said that while water from the reservoir is needed for the “replenishment for turbine condensers and safety systems” of the plant, the cooling pond is “full” and as of 8 a.m. local time “the water level is 16.6 meters, which is sufficient for the plant’s needs.”

In November, the Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling and satellite images from Maxar Technologies obtained by CNN showed water flowing out of three sluice gates at the dam.

Here's where the dam is located:

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said there have been “no civilian casualties due to high water” after the collapse of a major dam in Russian-occupied Kherson region early Tuesday.

The prime minister reiterated that there are provisions for drinking water and the situation around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is “under control”.

The Nova Kakhovka dam supplies water to the nuclear plant, which lies upstream along the Dnipro River. It's destruction has renewed concerns for nuclear power plant safety.

At the other side of the dam, people have been evacuated from at risk areas amid fears that rising water levels could threaten the lives of Ukrainians.

A total of 885 people have been evacuated across Kherson region, according to an update earlier Tuesday from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on Telegram.

“About 80 settlements" are in the flood zone along the Dnipro River, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on Telegram following an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defence Council.

Zelensky went on to say evacuations have been ordered with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, in an interview with Russian state TV Russia 24, said that evacuations of homes located along the Dnipro River in Nova Kakhovka are also underway.

Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for the incident. Ukrainian military have accused Russian forces of destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam. The Kremlin have denied involvement and accused Ukraine of "deliberate sabotage" of the dam.