Hours after the Ukrainian army finally launched its long-awaited counter-offensive, Russia has hit back. Early this morning, Russian forces blew up the Nova Kakhovka dam, the fifth largest in Ukraine, in the occupied part of the Kherson region.

The flooding has been immediate: more than 80 settlements are in danger (with 16,000 people at risk) including Kherson itself. Kyiv has started the evacuation of the villages and towns located downstream of the Dnipro river. Whether Moscow will do the same for the people it now claims as Russian citizens is unknown.

The Nova Kakhovka dam was used to provide water to the arid south of Ukraine and cool the reactors of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control. The flooding will delay the Ukrainian army from fording the river and crossing to the left bank. The destruction of this dam also means the loss of vital irrigation over a large part of Ukraine, which will cause devastation to Ukrainian agriculture (Ukraine is in the top-five grain suppliers in the world).

Russian terrorists. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land. Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror. It’s only… pic.twitter.com/ErBog1gRhH

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 6, 2023

But destroying the dam comes at a cost to Russia – it will now be impossible to operate the North Crimean canal, which piped water to occupied Crimea. The water level in the Kakhovsky reservoir is dropping rapidly, at a rate of about 15 cm per hour. So, very soon, Crimea – as well as settlements upstream of the Dnipro river – will face serious water supply issues. This includes the Zaporizhia region, which Russian forces have so far failed to seize.

The widening of the river, brought about by the flooding, will also create greater distance between the firing positions of the Russian military and their targets. This will make it harder for Putin’s soldiers to terrorise those who live in land under Ukraine’s control.

Ukrainian intelligence and president Zelensky warned the world about Russians destroying the dam last October. Back then, Ukraine’s leader called on the members of the European Council to send an international observation mission to the hydroelectric plant. But this did not happen.

The United Nations has tweeted this morning ‘Tuesday is Russian Language Day’ but did not mention the blown dam. Needless to say, this is not the actions of Russia seeking to look after newly-occupied territory and its people but an act of the Kremlin fearing that its occupation will fail.