A major Soviet-era dam in Ukraine that supplies water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been blown up, according to both Russian and Ukrainian authorities, with the two sides blaming each other for the incident.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro river has unleashed a flood of water across a large area, though officials said there did not appear to be an immediate threat to the Zaporizhzhia plant.
It comes as Ukraine’s defence minister, Hanna Malyar, claimed gains of up to 1.6km in several directions” as Kyiv is now “shifting to offensive actions” in some areas, amid growing signs that a long-awaited counter-offensive has begun.
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi also claimed that his forces were “moving forward” towards Bakhmut.
President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Ukrainian forces in the region for delivering “the news we were expecting”.
On Monday, Moscow claimed to have repelled a major Ukrainian offensive in the south of the Donetsk region but the chief of private army Wagner admitted Russian forces had lost ground around Bakhmut further north.
