<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the partial destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine was "another devastating consequence" of Russia's invasion of its neighbor.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An attack on the major Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine unleashed a torrent of water that flooded a small city, inundated two dozen villages and sparked the evacuation of 17,000 people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Today's tragedy is yet another example of the horrific price of war on people," Guterres told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The floodgates of suffering have been overflowing for more than a year. That must stop," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Moscow and Kyiv traded blame for ripping a gaping hole in the dam in what Kyiv said was an attempt by Russia to hamper Ukraine's long-awaited offensive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guterres said the UN "has no access to independent information on the circumstances that led to the destruction" of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"But one thing is clear," he added. "This is another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guterres, who since the start of Russia's invasion has condemned Moscow for violating the UN charter, said attacks against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure "must stop."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We have all seen the tragic images coming out today of the monumental humanitarian, economic and ecological catastrophe in the Kherson region of Ukraine," the secretary-general said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The United Nations and humanitarian partners are rushing support in coordination with the government of Ukraine -- including drinking water and water purification tablets and other critical assistance," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking at a Security Council meeting devoted to the dam blast, humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the destruction of the dam was a "massive blow" to food production in the region, as well as carried significant risks of mines and explosives being shifted by water to areas previously deemed safe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The destruction of the dam "will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine - on both sides of the front line - through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said the dam blast was caused by a "deliberate sabotage undertaken by Kyiv."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is the criminal Kyiv regime and the Western patrons obstinately pumping it full of weapons who bear full responsibility for the unfolding tragedy," Nebenzya said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine's envoy Sergiy Kyslytsya said Moscow was "blaming the victim for your own crimes."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The explosion of the dam of the Kakhovka (hydroelectric power plant) is an act of ecological and technological terrorism," he told the Council. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>