Russia targets Zelensky’s home city as missiles hit dam causing flooding

A dam struck by Russian missiles in president Volodymyr Zelensky’s home city has caused widespread flooding.

Kryvyi Rih, the largest city in central Ukraine with an estimated pre-war population of 650,000, was hit by eight cruise missiles on Wednesday, officials said.

The strikes hit the Karachunov reservoir dam, Mr Zelensky said in a video address released early on Thursday.

The water system had “no military value” and hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on it daily, he said.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the Krivyi Rih military administration, said in a post on Telegram that 112 homes were flooded but that works to repair the dam on the Inhulets river were underway and that “flooding was receding”.

Images have shown workers repairing a hydraulic structure damaged by the missile strike while other pictures show rescuers helping with an evacuation mission in a flooded area of the city.

Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a Twitter post after the attacks on Kryvyi Rih, said “Russia is a terrorist state and must be recognised as such”.

“Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih hydraulic structures is a war crime and an act of terror,” he wrote. “Beaten by Ukrainian army on the battlefield, Russian cowards are now at war with our critical infrastructure and civilians.”

US senators from Democratic and Republican parties introduced legislation that would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The measure is opposed by president Joe Biden's administration.

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The attacks come as Russian forces suffered a stunning reversal this month after Ukrainian troops made a rapid armoured thrust in the Kharkiv region in its northeast, forcing a rushed Russian withdrawal.

Britain's defence ministry said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces continue to consolidate their control of newly liberated areas of Kharkiv Oblast while Russian troops are “retreating in panic” and abandoning high-value equipment.

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“The way in which Russian forces have withdrawn in the last week has varied. Some units retreated in relatively good order and under control, while others fled in apparent panic,” the bulletin said.

It added: “High-value equipment abandoned by retreating Russian forces included capabilities essential to enable Russia’s artillery-centric style of warfare. Amongst these are at least one ZOOPARK counter-battery radar and at least one IV14 artillery command and control vehicle.”

It added: “High-value equipment abandoned by retreating Russian forces included capabilities essential to enable Russia’s artillery-centric style of warfare. Amongst these are at least one ZOOPARK counter-battery radar and at least one IV14 artillery command and control vehicle.”