The flood waters entered a small town and two dozen villages.
Washington:
The White House said on Tuesday that there would be “potentially many deaths” after an explosion destroyed a large dam in Ukraine, but there was still no concrete evidence to say who was behind the act.
“The United States cannot say conclusively what happened at this time,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters.
Moscow and Kiev blamed a breach in the Kakhovka Dam for what Kiev said was an attempt to disrupt Russia’s long-awaited invasion of Ukraine. Russia captured the dam in southern Ukraine shortly after it invaded the country last year.
The resulting floodwaters inundated a small town and two dozen villages, leading to the evacuation of 17,000 people.
Kirby said that “significant” damage had occurred and that an “explosion” was responsible. However, he was careful to stress that Washington is still studying the incident before identifying the perpetrator.
He added that the United States “has not reached a final conclusion”. “We are still trying to gather information and talk to Ukrainians.”
When asked whether attacking the dam would be a war crime, Kirby said, “It is very clear that the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure is not permitted by the laws of war.”
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