Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, citing an emergency services spokesman, said a missile fired from a US HIMARS missile system hit the dam’s lock and caused damage. The official cited said it was an “attempt to create the conditions for a humanitarian disaster” by breaching the dam. The reports did not provide evidence to support the claim, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters. The massive Nova Kakhovka dam, which blocks the Dnipro River upstream of Kherson, where Ukrainian forces have advanced, has gained vital strategic importance in recent weeks. Both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each since October of planning to breach the dam using explosives, in a move that would flood much of the region downstream, likely causing major damage around the city of Kherson. Reporting by Reuters Editing by William Maclean and Hugh Lawson Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
