Ukraine has accused Russia of destroying a hydroelectric power-generating dam in the country's south. It says residents downstream have been forced to evacuate. Russia puts the blame on Ukraine for the blast at the dam.

The Ukrainian military announced on Tuesday that Russia's forces blew up the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River in the southern region of Kherson.

A local governor says large amounts of water are flowing downstream. He also says about 16,000 people are in the critical zone and the evacuation of residents is underway.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video on social media. In the clip, water can be seen gushing out of the dam.

Zelenskyy said he held an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defense Council.

He claimed that Russian terrorists carried out the explosion at 2:50 a.m., and pointed out that there are about 80 settlements in the flood zone. He also said the government is urging people to evacuate from areas at risk and has instructed officials to provide drinking water to affected people.

The president added that a set of measures has been agreed upon at the meeting to bring Russia to justice for the terrorist act.

Ukraine's state hydroelectric company Ukrhydroenergo said the facility of the plant was completely destroyed. It also reported that the water level in the reservoir is rapidly declining. The company said it will be able to supply water from it over the next four days.

Reuters news agency says the roughly 30-meter-high dam was built in 1956 and has been used mainly to generate hydroelectric power.

The dam reportedly supplies water to Crimea, which Russia unilaterally annexed in 2014, and cooling water to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Ukrhydroenergo said the declining water level is an additional threat to the nuclear power plant.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement that its assessment shows that "there is no immediate risk to the safety of the plant."

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi also said the nuclear plant has "a number of alternative sources of water," and that one of them is a large pond next to the site. He said that it is estimated the pond will be sufficient to provide cooling water for "some months" as the reactors have been shut down for many months. He said it is vital that the pond remains intact.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has blamed Ukraine, saying "this is nothing but an intentional act of sabotage by Ukraine, which was planned and perpetrated on the orders from Kiev." He added that the Russian president is receiving reports about this situation.

Regarding the war with Russia, Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukrainian troops are moving forward in particular in the eastern region of Donetsk.

The New York Times reported an assessment by US officials that "Kyiv had most likely begun its counteroffensive." The report says US military satellites "had detected increased movement from the Ukrainian military positions." It adds, "The satellites have infrared capabilities to track artillery fire and missile launches."

The leader of the Russian private military firm Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Monday that Russian troops are withdrawing from areas around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. He said they are quietly fleeing in shame.

Prigozhin has reportedly been at odds with Russia's defense ministry.

He also said the ministry's main objective is to pretend everything is going well and that they are making advances. But he warned that Russian forces will face major tactical defeats in two weeks.