Russia yesterday attacked a hydraulic dam with eight cruise missiles and caused flooding in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the president reported on Thursday morning. Kyiv believes that the highly symbolic attack is Moscow's retaliation for the counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region, where they have regained control of 400 towns since last week, according to the president's calculations.
Zelenski has again accused Russia of wanting to cause "terror" in this war, because the objective of the attack on the city located in the south of the country is purely civilian. The water system "has no military value" and hundreds of civilians depend on it daily. Likewise, he accused Moscow of wanting to flood the city where he was born.
The shells damaged the dam of the Karachunov reservoir and caused a sudden rise in the river of the Ingulets River. "At the point of impact, we observe a flow of water of 100 m3 per second, which is a large volume. The water level of the Ingulets changes every hour," the deputy head of the presidential administration Kirilo Tymoshenko warned yesterday.
Authorities are rushing to repair the damage to prevent the city center of 650,000 inhabitants (pre-war figure) from flooding. The head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih has stated that at least 112 houses have been affected by the water, but that the work to repair the dam is paying off and "the flooding is receding".
The Russian military suffered a stunning setback this month after Ukrainian troops launched a swift offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region, prompting a hasty Russian withdrawal.
