At least 80 villages and communities are at risk of being affected by the massive water flows after the Nova Kakhovka dam in Kherson was damaged in what is reported to be an explosion in the early hours of Tuesday.
Evacuations have begun downstream. On the north side of the river, which Ukraine controls, there are currently about 20 000 people in rescue operations.
Peter Lidén, lieutenant colonel and teacher of war studies at the Swedish Defence University, says that most indications are that Russian forces are behind the blowing up of the military-strategically important dam.
In addition to affected energy production, drinking water supplies are also lost in large areas of the Kherson region and the Russian-annexed Crimea.
"The Russians have fought hydroelectric power plants and dams in Ukraine a number of times before. Now this dam is exceptionally large, and it is a violation of international law through and through when you try to unleash such strong forces and strike so blindly at civilians. So the ruthlessness itself is nothing new from the Russian side," says Peter Lindén.
Major: A matter of time
Roger Djupsjö, a major who has been to the area in question before, believes that it was only a matter of time before the dam would be sabotaged. Among other things, he points to the offensive initiated by Ukraine.
"Now that you saw that the initiative is slipping out of their hands, I think you saw this as part of defending the occupied parts south of the Dnieper River," he said.
According to Djupsjö, it is the Russian-controlled part south of the river that is most affected by the maneuver. The gain, for Russia, is that it will be more difficult for Ukrainian forces to cross the river, he says.
"The river will be flooded and it will be flooded and marshy on the beaches. So it will take quite some time, as I see it, before you can use the river or any temporarily built bridges," he says.