The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam will “certainly” affect the operation of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine but the situation is “under control,” a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military said Tuesday.
“According to experts, this will certainly affect the operation [of the Zaporizhzhia NPP]. But there is no need to escalate the situation now and draw the most critical conclusions,” Ukraine’s southern command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said on national television.
“The situation is currently under control,” she added.
Earlier Tuesday, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said on Tuesday that the dam’s destruction will “also pose a threat to the [Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant].”
The plant, the largest nuclear facility in Europe, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion last year.
Some context: The Nova Kakhovka dam is a critical piece of infrastructure, holding around 18 cubic kilometers in the Kakhovka Reservoir, about equal to the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah, according to Reuters.
The dam supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
“Crimea is indeed very dependent on water supply,” Humeniuk said Tuesday. “I would like to ask whom they have made worse.”
