A Russian attack on the Kyiv Reservoir dam and an adjoining hydroelectric power plant north of the Ukrainian capital on Monday has not caused serious damage, according to Kyiv region Governor Ruslan Kravchenko, Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service has reported.
Pending renewed Russian attacks or air raid warnings, the road over the crest of the dam is due to reopen later on Monday afternoon, Kravchenko added.
Video footage published earlier on Monday by online Ukrainian news outlet Strana showed the aftermath of a Russian strike on the dam, in which the road and fences running along its crest, as well as some structures belonging to the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Station, were damaged.
While there is no video footage of the strike on the dam itself, there is a video showing what appears to be a missile landing in the reservoir.
The attack appears to have been part of a coordinated Russian missile and drone strike on critical energy infrastructure across Ukraine on Monday, which was described by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as one of the largest since the war began, using some 100 Shahed drones and another 100 missiles.
Fifteen regions in total — more than half the country — were affected by the Russian airstrikes, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. BBC News Russian reported that so far five people are known to have been killed and dozens more injured.
On 6 June 2023, the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region was destroyed in an attack that the Russian and Ukrainian authorities continue to blame on each other and that resulted in catastrophic flooding over an area of 620 square kilometres.
