Ukraine’s Operational Command South has confirmed that an explosion on Tuesday morning destroyed the Nova Kakhovka dam, which guards the Kherson region’s coastal cities against a reservoir with water levels currently at a 30-year high. In a statement on Facebook, the Ukrainian military accused Russian occupation forces of blowing up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. The loss of the dam is expected to unleash flood waters downstream and exacerbate Ukraine’s energy shortages after months of Russian missile strikes targeting power generation and grid facilities across the country.