Houses flooded after missiles hit major dam in Ukraine

Russian missiles have hit a reservoir dam near the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, officials say.

Residents in some areas were told to evacuate, city head Oleksandr Vilkul said, but he added the situation was under control.

Ukraine said the strike was revenge by Russia for its recent counter-attack.

President Volodymyr Zelensky – who was born in the city – described Russia as a “terrorist state” after the attack on the Karachunivske reservoir.

“You are weaklings who fight civilians,” Zelensky said in his late night address on Wednesday. “Scoundrels who, having escaped from the battlefield, are trying to do harm from somewhere far away.”

This was an apparent reference to Ukraine’s recent military successes in a swift counter-offensive in the country’s north-eastern Kharkiv region. It has seen Ukraine’s army reclaim swathes of occupied territory, forcing Russian troops to retreat.

In his speech, Zelensky said the reservoir had “no military value at all”.

Vilkul said that overnight two blasts were carried out to increase the water flow from the dam to the Inhulets river.

Water supplies were affected by the attack in the city, which had a pre-war population of more than 600,000 people.

Water broke through the dam and overflowed the banks of the river, flooding some houses, officials said.

On Thursday morning, Vilkul said water levels in the Inhulets river had now “dropped considerably”. He said there were no casualties.

Moscow has not publicly commented on the reported missile strikes.

Russia’s military had earlier admitted hitting energy-generating targets that caused widespread blackouts affecting millions of people in eastern Ukraine last weekend.

Agencies