The Belgorod Reservoir dam in western Russia’s Belgorod region. Photo: Belgorod State University
Authorities in Russia’s western Belgorod region have begun evacuating residents from several villages at risk of flooding after a dam near the border between the two countries was damaged in a Ukrainian missile strike on Friday.
In a Telegram post on Saturday, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that Ukrainian forces “may try to strike again and destroy” the Belgorod Reservoir dam. “If this happens, there will be a threat of flooding of the river floodplain on the side of [Ukraine’s] Kharkiv region and several streets in our settlements, where about 1,000 people live”, Gladkov wrote.
Temporary accommodation in the regional capital Belgorod would be offered to residents of certain areas of the town of Shebekino and the villages of Bezlyudovka and Novaya Tavolzhanka, Gladkov said. All three settlements are located downstream of the 76 million m³ Belgorod Reservoir on the Donets River, which flows through eastern Ukraine and southern Russia before joining the River Don.
Reports of damage to the dam first emerged late on Friday, when Moscow news outlet MNS reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had struck it with three HIMARS missiles, injuring two people.
While the strike damaged the crest of the dam, one of its sluice gates and several technical buildings around it, an initial inspection concluded that its integrity had not been compromised and there was “no threat” of flooding, MNS reported at the time.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences had intercepted a total of 121 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions overnight, including seven that were approaching Moscow. In Russia’s southern Volgograd region, authorities said falling debris from a downed drone had caused a fire to break out at an electrical substation for the second time this month.
After Russian aerial attacks killed four people in Ukraine overnight, including two in Kyiv, Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had carried out a “high-precision” strikes on “enterprises of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure facilities” in response to “Ukraine’s terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russian territory”.
