round 42,000 people are at risk from flooding after a giant Soviet-era dam was blown up in eastern Ukraine, officials in the country have warned.
Floodwaters are expected to peak on Wednesday following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River.
Thousands are expected to lose their homes and livelihoods as well as access to food and safe water.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the security council on Tuesday night that the dam breach “will have grave and far-reaching consequences”.
“The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realised in the coming days,” he said.
British defence chiefs also warned on Wednesday that the dam is likely to suffer more damage, unleashing fresh flooding.
But the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on the river is unlikely to face “immediate additional safety issues”, the Ministry of Defence in London said.
They also did not explicitly blame Russia for the attack as investigations continue.
In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said: “The Russian-controlled Kakhovka dam partially failed just before 3am local time on June 6. By 1200hrs, the entire eastern portion of the dam and much of the hydro and utilities infrastructure was swept away.
“The water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir was at a record high before the collapse, resulting in a particularly high volume of water inundating the area downstream.”
The briefing added: “Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which sits 120km away from the dam, is highly unlikely to face immediate additional safety issues as a result of the dropping water levels in the reservoir.
“The dam’s structure is likely to deteriorate further over the next few days, causing additional flooding.”
