(CNN) — Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric dam, the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Station (HPP), is in “critical condition” after it was hit by a Russian attack on Ukrainian energy facilities, officials say.
The head of the military administration of the Zaporizhia region, Ivan Fedorov, told Ukrainian television that the power plant can no longer produce electricity.
Traffic around the plant is “completely blocked,” he said, and residents are forced to cross bridges to get around, he said.
Russia is continuing its tactic of attacking key energy facilities this week, with Ukraine’s Energy Ministry warning on Sunday of a “significant energy shortage” as a knock-on effect from the attacks.
The ministry said emergency blackouts were carried out in several regions of Ukraine after “six major attacks.”
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said power facilities in the regions of Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kirovohrad and Ivano-Frankivsk were hit, in what the ministry called “the sixth missile and drone attack on power facilities since 22 March”.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said these attacks were carried out “in response to the Kyiv regime’s attempts to damage Russian energy and transportation facilities.”
Ukraine is on the defensive on the front line as it faces continued airstrikes. In May, Russia opened a new front with a surprise attack northeast of Kharkiv, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of weapons and manpower.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, attending a summit of defense chiefs in Singapore, called on Asia-Pacific countries to join an upcoming peace summit that he accused Russia of trying to thwart.
He thanked US President Joe Biden for “an important decision” to allow Ukraine to use US munitions for limited attacks inside Russian territory, but said it was not enough.
Last year, the Nova Kakhovka Dam, a major dam and hydroelectric power station in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, collapsed.
The cause of the collapse is not yet confirmed, although several civil engineering experts suggested that an explosion within the structure was the most likely cause of the dam’s failure.
Several Western officials blamed Russia for the disaster at the time, either directly accusing Moscow of attacking the dam or saying Russia was responsible simply because it is the aggressor in the war against Ukraine.
Russia denied any involvement in the disaster and in turn accused Ukraine of destroying the dam, without providing evidence.
Ivana Kottasová and Gianluca Mezzofiore contributed to this report.
