The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the collapse of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine as an act of ‘mass environmental destruction’ and maintained the attack on such critical infrastructure would not alter Ukraine’s plans to retake territory from occupying Russian forces.

Describing the explosion that destroyed the dam as a deliberate and chaotic act by Russia, Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the dam was blown up in a bid to ‘use the flood as a weapon’ to hamper Ukrainian forces.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskyy said Moscow was resigned to losing control of Russian-annexed Crimea and, therefore, had destroyed the region’s water supply.