The Kakhovka dam controls water supply to towns throughout southern Ukraine, including Crimea and other territory illegally occupied by Russia. Thousands were being evacuated.

Ukraine blamed Russia for blowing up a giant dam and unleashing millions of gallons of floodwater across its south, complicating fierce fighting as Kyiv’s forces intensify their counteroffensive to oust Moscow’s troops from occupied territory.

Ukraine said Russian forces have blown up a giant dam in the country’s south, unleashing a torrent of floodwater that threatens residents and complicates the battlefield separating their two armies along the Dnipro river.

A torrent of water burst through a massive dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, flooding a swathe of the war zone and forcing villagers to flee.

The Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Kherson region was blown up by Russian forces, the South command of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Tuesday.

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine they control, alerting residents further along the Dnipro River to evacuate and warning of flooding do