Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam disaster – in pictures

Images show the devastation wrought by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam near the Ukrainian city of Kherson

Guardian staff

Main image: The House of Culture on a flooded street in Nova Kakhovka after the nearby dam was breached, in the Kherson Region. Photograph: Alexey Konovalov/Reuters

  • The wall of a major dam in southern Ukraine has collapsed, triggering floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies.
    The wall of a major dam in southern Ukraine has collapsed, triggering floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies.

  • A handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar technologies, shows a closer view of Nova Khakovka dam in south Ukraine.
    A handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar technologies, shows a closer view of Nova Khakovka dam in south Ukraine.

  • A pedestrian wades through rising flood water in central Kherson
    A pedestrian wades through rising flood water in central Kherson

  • Rising flood water in central Kherson around 300 meters from the Dnipro river
    Rising flood water in central Kherson around 300 meters from the Dnipro river

  • About 42,000 people are at risk from flooding on both sides of the Dnipro River, Ukrainian officials have said
    About 42,000 people are at risk from flooding on both sides of the Dnipro River, Ukrainian officials have said

  • Emergency workers respond as flood waters rise
    Emergency workers respond as flood waters rise

  • UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the security council on Tuesday night that the dam breach “will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people
    UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the security council on Tuesday night that the dam breach “will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people

  • The governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, says that 1,582 houses have been flooded on the right bank of the Dnipro River
    The governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, says that 1,582 houses have been flooded on the right bank of the Dnipro River

  • This handout photograph taken and released by the State Enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom shows damage at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam, near Kherson.
    This handout photograph taken and released by the State Enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom shows damage at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam, near Kherson.

  • Local resident Tetiana holds her pets, Tsatsa and Chunya, as she stands inside her home that was flooded after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed.
    Local resident Tetiana holds her pets, Tsatsa and Chunya, as she stands inside her home that was flooded after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed.

  • People stand next to an inflatable boat as a car drives past them in a flooded street. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of destroying the critical dam and hydroelectric power plant on the Dnipro River.
    People stand next to an inflatable boat as a car drives past them in a flooded street. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of destroying the critical dam and hydroelectric power plant on the Dnipro River.

  • In this image taken from a video released by the Ukrainian Presidential Office, water runs through a large hole in the Kakhovka dam.
    In this image taken from a video released by the Ukrainian Presidential Office, water runs through a large hole in the Kakhovka dam.

  • Oleksandra walks around her house on a flooded street, in Kherson.
    Oleksandra walks around her house on a flooded street, in Kherson.

  • Red Cross volunteers help an elderly woman evacuated from the flooded area after the breach.
    Red Cross volunteers help an elderly woman evacuated from the flooded area after the breach.

  • A local man rescues cats from a flooded building in Kherson.
    A local man rescues cats from a flooded building in Kherson.

  • People help an elderly man to get in an inflatable boat as he evacuates from his home. A number of settlements were completely or partially flooded, the Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
    People help an elderly man to get in an inflatable boat as he evacuates from his home. A number of settlements were completely or partially flooded, the Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

  • Local residents try to retrieve their car from a flooded street. Russia’s UN envoy was accused of floundering in a “mud of lies” after he claimed at an emergency session of the security council that Ukraine destroyed Kakhovka dam in a “war crime”.
    Local residents try to retrieve their car from a flooded street. Russia’s UN envoy was accused of floundering in a “mud of lies” after he claimed at an emergency session of the security council that Ukraine destroyed Kakhovka dam in a “war crime”.

  • A local resident with a bike and a dog walks along flooded streets past the buildings in Kherson.
    A local resident with a bike and a dog walks along flooded streets past the buildings in Kherson.

  • A man and a woman carry a cat during an evacuation from a flooded area. UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the UN security council that “the sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realised in the coming days.”
    A man and a woman carry a cat during an evacuation from a flooded area. UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the UN security council that “the sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realised in the coming days.”
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