back upstream, you can t really see what is left of the dam and hydroelectric plant. so who did this? russia controls this area, but blames ukraine. kyiv is in no doubt. translation: the kakhovka hydroelectric power station. l it was an absolutely deliberate, prepared explosion. they knew exactly what they were doing. translation: tonight, i the kyiv regime committed another terrorist crime. the kakhovka hydroelectric dam was blown up, which led to the flooding of significant territories. so what is the significance of the dam? it provides water to huge swathes of agricultural land, including in crimea, and the reservoir behind it provides water to cool the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant further up river. both areas are under russia control. the reservoir is huge. the dnipro river is especially wide here. 150 miles long, and up to m miles across. this is what the dam looks like undamaged. our colleagues at bbc verify say this image of a smaller breach was taken just days ago. but
the bbc finds evidence of major success in clamping down on opium growing in afghanistan. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. thank you for being with us. we start in ukraine, and the attack on a crucial dam in the south of the country. thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, because of rising flood waters. the dam sits between russian held territory to the south and ukrainian territory to the north. kyiv says that moscow is to blame, and so do nato and the eu, which has called the destruction a war crime . at a un meeting, russia has accused ukraine of sabotage. the uk prime minister, rishi sunak has said to kherson now, and this report from our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse. i think it is still if you go by what us officials are saying just today it is still in its early phases. it has started nevertheless where ukrainian forces, small new units are probing different parts of this vast front line. they re trying to fin
live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it s newsday. hi there, thank you for being with us. we start in ukraine and the attack on a crucial dam in the south of the country. thousands of people have been forced to evacuate because of rising flood waters. the dam sits between russian held territory to the south, and ukrainian territory to the north. kyiv says that moscow is to blame and so do nato and the eu, which has called the destruction a war crime. at a un meeting, russia has accused ukraine of sabotage. the uk prime minister, rishi sunak has said it s too soon to make a definitive judgment, but if russia is found responsible, it would demonstrate the new lows that we will have seen from russian aggression . to kherson now and this report from our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse. i think it is still if you go by what you officials are saying just today it is still in its early phases. -by by what us officials are saying- it has starte
a breach of a barrier designed to protect. this is the major kakhovka dam failing to contain a reservoir resembling a sea. the waters of ukraine s dnipro river surge downstream, towards dozens of towns and villages. this is effectively a front line, which separates territory ukraine controls and and russia occupies. close to the dnipro s mouth is the city kherson. people were worried this fighting could become catastrophic. when our team arrived this afternoon, it didn t take long to find out what life here is like. it s dangerous , says katalina. and then. explosion. russia may have retreated here last year, but they re not far away. it takes a lot in these parts to make people leave.
russia has previously tried to seize control of the narrative in the information war, and should moscow be behind the destruction of the dam, then it is a counterpunch. but working out exactly who is behind it, who s behind this apparent detonation i don t think we will ever realise, but we need to be bright eyed to the military dynamics around, at a crucial phase for ukraine in this conflict as it tries to unlock what has been months of static fighting. a breach of a barrier designed to protect. this is the major kakhovka dam, failing to contain a reservoir resembling a sea. the waters of ukraine s dnipro river surge downstream, towards dozens of towns and villages. this is effectively a front line, which separates territory ukraine controls and russia occupies. close to the dnipro s mouth, the city of kherson. officials are worried this flooding