June 7, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Evacuations in flooded areas are ongoing after the Nova Kakhovka dam's collapse on Tuesday, officials in Ukrainian-controlled Kherson said.

The head of the Kherson region military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said: “We expect that the water will stay and accumulate for another day and then will gradually decrease for another 5 days.”

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said it is looking for ways to evacuate citizens from the occupied-eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko, who visited the region, said: "The evacuation works are ongoing. We are trying to do it as quickly as possible. We are hampered by a strong current and shelling by the Russian military."

“There is a lot of work to be done. First of all, it will concern environmental pollution. 150 tons of machine oil leaked out of the turbine room when the hydroelectric power plant was blown up," Klymenko said.

As of 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), 1,854 people have been evacuated from Ukrainian-controlled areas of Kherson region, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in an update.

The Russian Ministry of Defense released a statement on Wednesday accusing Ukraine of blowing up an ammonia pipeline in the Kharkiv region.

”As a result of this terrorist act, there are victims among the civilian population. They received the necessary medical care,” the statement said. 

What Ukraine says: Ukrainian officials have blamed Russian shelling for the damage. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration, first reported damage from shelling on Monday and said the pipeline had been damaged again on Tuesday. 

CNN cannot independently verify either claim. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that it would take one to three months to repair the damaged Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline during a press briefing. According to Zakharova, the ammonia pipeline was key to the Black Sea grain deal.

"The ammonia pipeline was one of the linchpins of the implementation of the agreements made in Istanbul on July 22. The pipeline was key to global food security," Zakharova said during a news briefing on Wednesday.

Some context: According to the UN, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was launched by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and United Nations as a mechanism for the safe exports of grain, related foodstuffs and fertilizer, including ammonia, from designated Ukrainian ports to global markets.

The international humanitarian organization CARE cautioned that landmines are likely floating in the flood of water unleashed by the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in the southern Kherson region. 

Martin also noted “the catastrophic consequences” the dam breach could have on the environment. 

He said that oil had been released into the Dnipro River and warned that more could leak, echoing concerns that the head of Ukraine's main hydropower generating company made in an interview with CNN on Tuesday. 

“At least 150 tons of oil have been released into the Dnipro River with the risk of further leakage of more than 300 tons,” Martin said. “This may lead to the Nyzhniodniprovskyi National Nature Park to disappear, which is more than 80,000 hectares of protected land.” 

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said with the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam “the Russians have actually done more damage to themselves and their armed forces.”

Mailar said the incident has damaged Russian fortifications and military positions. 

Speaking on national TV, Mailar said: “Basically, the territory that is now under the control of the aggressor will be more affected.”

“Yesterday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that their actions and plans would not be affected,” she added.

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's former president told CNN Wednesday that the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse in the Kherson region is a "catastrophe" for Ukraine. He said, "We are hit in the heart, and this is the biggest man-made catastrophe in the 21st century."

Speaking from Kyiv, Poroshenko told CNN's Kate Bolduan that artillery trucks will be heading to the south to the brigade that is now in the "process for finishing preparation for the counteroffensive operation."

He said it's possible the dam disaster was created by Russia to stop a counteroffensive, but Ukrainian troops would not be stopped from carrying it out. He added that it's creating a disaster for the civilians but not for the troops. "Nothing can stop Ukrainian troops," he said.

Looking at his watch, Poroshenko said the counteroffensive "will start within hours," adding "within hours, not days, but hours." CNN cannot independently verify this.

What Ukraine's allies are saying: US and Western officials see signs that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia is beginning and have noted a “substantial increase in fighting” in the east of the country over the last 48 hours as Ukrainian troops probe for weaknesses in Russian defensive lines, a senior NATO official said on Tuesday.

Some more context: A major dam and hydroelectric power plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine was destroyed early Tuesday, prompting mass evacuations and fears for large-scale devastation as Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other. Ukraine accused Moscow’s forces of committing an act of “ecocide.” The Kremlin denied involvement and accused Ukraine of "deliberate sabotage" of the dam.

The dam is a critical piece of infrastructure: It supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the Crimean peninsula.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Alex Marquardt, Jim Sciutto and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukrainian conflict in a telephone conversation with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, according to the Kremlin.

Putin and Ramaphosa “discussed issues related to the well-known African initiative to find ways to resolve the Ukrainian conflict,” the Kremlin readout said. 

Additionally, the two leaders talked about preparations for the upcoming Russia-Africa summit in July and the BRICS summit in August and agreed that Putin would soon receive a delegation of African heads of state to discuss potential solutions.

The readout did not mention if the topic of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant on Putin was touched upon.

While Putin's attendance at the BRICS summit (an international relations conference attended by officials of member states Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) remains uncertain, South Africa issued diplomatic immunity to all officials attending the summit in August, which would allow Putin to travel to the country despite the ICC warrant for his arrest.

The war in Ukraine has brought an enormous human toll: Thousands of civilians have been killed, millions have been forced to flee overseas, it has destroyed homes, schools and hospitals. But beyond the immediate, visceral impacts, the conflict is also causing a climate disaster at a time when the world is already struggling to meet climate goals, according to a new report.

A team of carbon accounting experts evaluated the climate impact of the first year of the conflict, which started in February 2022.

They found that a total of 120 million metric tons of planet-heating pollution can be attributed to the first 12 months of the war, according to the report published Wednesday. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions of Belgium, or those produced by nearly 27 million gas-powered cars on the road for a year.

The report, titled Climate Damage Caused by Russia’s War in Ukraine, follows on from a first interim assessment presented at the UN COP27 climate conference in November 2022.

Read more about this here.

US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns expressed hope Wednesday that China “will make the right choice” on pushing Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

“That's what the world wants and expects. I think the jury's out. I can't predict what the government of the People's Republic will do. But that's what we're obviously standing for, and they know our position,” he added.

Burns said he recently met with the Chinese envoy who traveled to Ukraine, Li Hui.

Some background: China has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine or call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory.

A vaguely worded 12-point position paper on China’s vision for the “political settlement” of the conflict, released earlier this year, said the “legitimate security concerns” of “all countries” should be be addressed. It also said the “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity” of all countries must be upheld.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China in the coming weeks, two US officials and a source familiar with the matter told CNN. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that US President Joe Biden will “at some point” meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as well.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed in separate phone calls Wednesday to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to establish an international commission to investigate the dam damage in the Kherson region. 

President Erdogan stated in both calls that an international commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations, and the international community, including Turkey, for a detailed investigation into the "explosion" at the Nova Kakhovka dam, according to a statement made by the Turkish presidency's Directorate of Communications. 

During the separate calls with both leaders, President Erdogan stated that it is important to carry out a comprehensive investigation "that leaves no room for suspicion."

On the call with Erdogan, Putin accused Ukraine of committing terrorist acts.

“A clear example of this is the barbaric action to destroy the [Kakhovka] hydroelectric power station in the Kherson region, which led to a large-scale environmental and humanitarian catastrophe,” according to a Kremlin readout of the call.

Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the dam breach, which occurred in territory occupied by Russia. The cause remains unclear, and CNN analysis of satellite images shows the dam was damaged just days before it collapsed.

Some more context: A major dam and hydroelectric power plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine was destroyed early Tuesday, prompting mass evacuations and fears for large-scale devastation as Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other. Ukraine accused Moscow’s forces of committing an act of “ecocide.” The Kremlin denied involvement and accused Ukraine of "deliberate sabotage" of the dam.

The dam is a critical piece of infrastructure: It supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the Crimean peninsula.