evidence: Ukraine dam: Thousands flee floods after dam collapse near Nova Kakhovka [...] One local resident Andriy, who lives close to the dam - which was seized by Russian forces shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 - said he believed Russia wanted to "drown" his city. [...] However, a Russian official claims Ukraine carried out the attack on the dam to detract from what they said were the failures of its counter-offensive and to deprive Crimea - Ukraine's southern peninsula illegally annexed by Russian in 2014 - of fresh water.