TOP HEADLINES

• Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said it had launched a criminal investigation into the overnight destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Kherson region.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the "world must react" to the Kakhovka dam attack, blaming Russia for the breach which has caused extensive flooding. He added that Russia had carried out "an internal explosion of the structures" of the plant at 2:50 am local time (2350 GMT).

• A Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine has been damaged, with Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of blowing it up while locals were forced to flee rising waters. Kyiv has called for the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting following the incident. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine said 150 tons of engine oil had spilled into the Dnipro river after the Kakhovka dam breach and warned of a "negative impact" on the environment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there was "a risk of further leakage of more than 300 tons."

• The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said the level of the Kakhovka reservoir near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant had fallen by 2.5 meters, and was expected to fall by up to seven meters, Russia's state news agency TASS reported.

• Kyiv said the danger of a nuclear disaster was increasing after the dam, around 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, was damaged. The UN and Russia said there was no immediate major risk. 

• The Russian-occupied city of Nova Kakhovka is "flooded," officials said Tuesday. Kyiv said 24 settlements had been flooded and it had already evacuated about a thousand people.

• Ukraine branded Russia a "terrorist state" at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of destroying a major dam in what it said was a campaign of violence dating back years.

• The extent of destruction at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is very serious and restoring it will be comparable to building it from scratch, head of the Russian-installed Kakhovka local administration Vladimir Leontyev said, according to TASS news agency.

• Russia's claims that its military had inflicted massive casualties on advancing Ukrainian troops are "wild fantasies," the head of Russian mercenary group Wagner said after Moscow's defense ministry said it had thwarted a Ukrainian offensive, killing a total of "1,500 servicemen" and destroying more than 100 armored vehicles.

IN DETAIL

Kyiv and Moscow exchange blame over Kakhovka dam

A Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine was damaged, with Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of blowing it up while locals were forced to flee rising waters.

The dam was partially destroyed by "multiple strikes," Moscow-installed authorities claimed just as expectations were rising over the start of Ukraine's long-awaited offensive.

Ukraine, however, accused Russia of blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant.

"The terrorists' goal is obvious - to create obstacles for the offensive actions of the armed forces," Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy convened a meeting of his National Security Council over the Russian "war crime," said his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.

Several villages have been "completely or partially flooded" following damage to the dam and evacuations from the area have begun, a Ukrainian official said.

"About 16,000 people are in the critical zone on the right bank of the Kherson region," Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson military administration, said on social media, adding that there was flooding in eight areas along the Dnipro River.

The Kakhovka dam, seized at the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, notably supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Built on the Dnipro River in 1956, during the Soviet era, the structure is partly made of concrete and partly of earth. It is one of the largest pieces of infrastructure of its kind in Ukraine.

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Cover image: /Maxar Technologies/AFP