What happened when the Nova Kakhovka dam was destroyed
A look back at the breach of the dam in Kherson Oblast and a separate report from Belgorod Oblast.
What did the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam on 6 June 2023 mean for the lower Dnieper? The dam, in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, was destroyed, releasing a huge amount of water downstream. It had held back 18 cubic kilometres of water in the Kakhovka reservoir.
The breach
The dam was breached in the early hours of 6 June 2023, causing extensive flooding along the lower Dnieper, also called the Dnipro, in Kherson Oblast. It was under the control of the Russian military, which had seized it in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Blame
Many experts later concluded that Russian forces had likely blown up a segment of the dam to hinder the planned Ukrainian counter-offensive. Ukraine specifically blamed Russia's 205th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. Russian authorities have denied the accusations.
Belgorod, a day earlier
On 5 June 2023, a separate report came from Russia's Belgorod region. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed to have captured the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka. The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said about 100 civilians were still trapped in the village and could not be evacuated because of continued shelling.
The Russian Volunteer Corps was one of two Russian groups, allied with and based in Ukraine, that had taken part in a cross-border raid into Belgorod Oblast on 22 May 2023. The other was the Freedom of Russia Legion. Russian authorities said a Ukrainian "sabotage group" was behind the attacks and imposed counter-terrorism measures in the region.
