KIEV: Residents of Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih have been asked to evacuate after missiles hit a major reservoir dam in the city, which is President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown, the media reported on Thursday.
According to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city's military administration, as many as 22 streets in two districts of Kryvyi Rih have been affected as a result of the strikes on Wednesday, the BBC reported.
Describing Russia as a "terrorist state", Zelensky said in a social media post late Wednesday night that it "continues to wage a war against civilians."
"This time missile strikes on hydraulic structures and an attempt to flood Kryvyi Rih. All the occupiers can do is to sow panic, create an emergency situation, try to leave people without light, heat, water and food. Can it break us? Not at all. Will they face a fair response and retribution? Definitely yes," he wrote.
City officials have said that a water flow of 100 cubic metres per second was gushing from breaches, and water levels in the Inhulets river were rising dangerously.
According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, water supplies have been affected by the attack and about 600,000 people were at risk of flooding in the centre and another district of the city.
Russia is yet to comment on Wednesday' strikes.