Evacuations are underway in a major Ukrainian city after Russia hit a dam with eight cruise missiles in its latest ‘revenge’ attack on civilians as its invasion fails.
Kryvyi Rih, President Zelensky’s home city, was inundated with water on Wednesday afternoon and overnight after an attack on the Karachun Dam.
The strikes badly damaged the dam and a nearby pumping station, releasing huge amounts of water into the Inhulets River and causing it to swell.
City streets and homes were flooded overnight as the river burst its banks, while bridges were also swept away.
Water spills from the damaged Karachun Dam near the city of Kryvyi Rih after Russia struck it with eight cruise missiles late on Wednesday
City streets and homes were flooded overnight as the river burst its banks, while bridges were also swept away
Russian shelling of the dam in president Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rih is pictured. Ukrainian troops are shown surveying the damage. Ukrainian troops are shown surveying the damage (left)
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said two districts of the city — which had a pre-war population of 650,000 — were at risk of flooding.
Residents of those districts — including the city centre — have been asked to leave.
The water is now making its way downstream to Kherson, where it will likely damage or wash away pontoon bridges that Ukrainian troops are using to attack the city.
‘Russian forces likely targeted the Karachun Dam to damage Ukrainian pontoon bridges further downstream,’ think-tank Institute for the Study of War reported.
The attack comes ‘in light of recent reports that Ukrainian troops are attempting to expand their bridgehead over the Inhulets River near Davydiv Brid as part of the ongoing Kherson counteroffensive,’ it added.
Russia also hit power stations and pipelines in Kharkiv with missiles, cutting power and water to the city after its troops were routed to the east.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was last photographed in Izyum on September 14 during a surprise visit to the city retaken during Ukraine’s counter offensive. Analysts say the Russian missile attacks on the Ukrainian president’s home town was in revenge for the victory
Zelensky has been involved in car accident, though he has not been seriously harmed
Zelensky addressed the latest Russian strikes in his overnight address, calling Putin’s armed forces ‘weaklings’ and ‘terrorists’.
‘Your missile attacks today, Russian missiles targeting Kryvyi Rih, the dam of the Karachunivske reservoir, the objects that have no military value at all,’ he said.
‘Hitting hundreds of thousands of ordinary civilians, is another reason why Russia will lose [the war].
‘You are weaklings waging a war against civilians; scoundrels who, having fled the battlefield, are trying to do harm from somewhere far away.’
A third of Ukraine was left without electricity overnight after Russia struck power stations with missiles, in apparent revenge for its latest military humiliation
President Zelensky narrowly escaped injury on Wednesday after he was involved in a car crash in Kyiv, with a driver slamming into his motorcade
Doctors travelling with him examined the president and said he does not have serious injuries, but the driver was left needing hospital treatment.
The crash occurred hours after Zelensky visited troops in Izium, a former Russian-held town.
Troops continue to pushback in Ukraine and Zelensky has said that they are ‘moving in only one direction- forward and towards victory.’
His troops yesterday reached the edge of Donbas, which is Russian-held, as they ploughed on with their fightback.
The crash in Kyiv also came after Putin yesterday survived an alleged assassination attempt.
The limousine he was in was reportedly hit by a ‘loud bang’ in a possible attack but the car drove to safety.
Putin allegedly survived an assassination attempt in Moscow, on the same day that President Zelensky escaped injury from a car crash in Kyiv