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Kherson, Ukraine: Before-and-after images of the area downstream from a dam that collapsed on Tuesday vividly show the extent of the devastation of a large, flooded swath of southern Ukraine.
Before the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River broke, farm fields appear green and crossed by peaceful streets and farm roads and dotted with trees.
Afterward, only metal roofs and treetops poke above the murky water. Greenhouses and homes are almost entirely submerged.
The pre-collapse satellite photos were taken in May and early June.
Photos of the same area taken after the dam collapsed clearly show how much of it has become unlivable. Brown water as high as people covers much of the territory captured in the images.
Paired with exclusive drone footage of the Ukrainian dam and surrounding villages occupied by Russia, the before-and-after satellite images illustrate the profound changes wrought by the disaster.
Ukraine has warned since last October that the hydroelectric dam was mined by Russian forces, and accused them of touching off an explosion that has turned the downstream areas into a waterlogged wasteland. Russia said Ukraine had hit the dam with a missile.
But while the AP footage clearly shows the extent of the damage to the region, it offered a limited snapshot of the partially submerged dam, making it difficult to categorically rule out any scenario.
Experts have said the structure was in disrepair, which could also have led to its collapse.
Drone footage of the collapsed Ukrainian dam and surrounding villages under Russian occupation showed the ruined structure falling into the flooded river, hundreds of submerged homes, greenhouses, even a church – and no evidence of an attack from above, as Russia alleges.
An Associated Press team flew a drone over the devastation on Wednesday, a day after the destruction of the dam.
The bulk of the dam itself is submerged, but the parts of buildings still visible above the rushing waters had no scorch marks nor shrapnel scars typical of a bombardment that Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out.
With the dam’s flood marking a new chapter in Russia’s war on Ukraine, the fighting has continued. Western sources believe that Kyiv has begun its long-awaited counteroffensive.
On Thursday, Russian forces shelled a southern Ukrainian city inundated by flooding, Ukrainian officials said, forcing a suspension of some rescue efforts hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky went to the area to assess the damage.
The fresh fighting came two days after the dam’s collapse set off a scramble to evacuate residents in dozens of flooded areas and to get aid to those still there.
Officials on both sides said at least 14 people died in the flooding.
AP
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