That danger is likely weeks or even months away. The immediate concern is for the people living near the dam now facing the 4.8 billion gallons of water officials previously warned would be unleashed if the structure failed.
Almost 100 towns and villages would be flooded, according to the World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development, a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, and the water would only start to recede after five days to a week. “In the event that the dam is blown up, there will be a huge artificial wave of floodwater, dumping some portion of Kakhovka reservoir water downstream,” he said.Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
Because the effects are so catastrophic, attacking dams is a violation of the Geneva Conventions, which forms the basis of international law. A rare precedent came in World War II, some 130 miles upstream.
The dam has held back a waterway that bisects the front lines in the southern Kherson region between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Local residents now face the 4.8 billion gallons of water that officials previously warned would be unleashed if the structure failed.