Flooding in the city of Kherson, Ukraine, after the collapse of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, June 6, 2023. Photo: Kyodo/VNA

Speaking via video at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) meeting in Paris (France), Shmyhal said the incident would also affect irrigation systems in the south leading to drought in Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain growers and exporters. This will impact global food security, he said.

According to PM Shmyhal, the collapse of the Kakhovka dam has caused at least 150 tons of oil to spill into the Dnipro River and the risk of another 300 tons of oil leaking out. This could be a threat to the flora and fauna of Ukraine.

The Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on the Dnipro River in Kherson collapsed on Tuesday. The dam built in 1956 is 30m high and 3.2km long. With its reservoir capacity of up to 18 cubic kilometers, Kakhovka is an important source of water for the Crimean peninsula in the south and Europe’s largest nuclear plant of Zaporizhzhia in the north.

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the dam collapse.