Russia-Ukraine war live: humanitarian crisis ‘hugely worse’ after Kakhovka dam collapse, says UN aid chief

Martin Griffiths warns the lack of drinking water and flooding of important agricultural land will cause a ‘cascade of problems’

• What we know on day 472 of the invasion

UN’s top aid official Martin Griffiths has warned Ukraine faces a “hugely worse” humanitarian situation than before after the collapse of the Kakhova dam.

This is a viral problem. The truth is this is only the beginning of seeing the consequences of this act.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Ukraine had begun its counteroffensive against Russian troops but that efforts “so far have failed” after Moscow said it repelled several Ukrainian assaults. However, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy made no formal announcement of specific developments on the battlefield, but praised the “heroism” of his country’s soldiers fighting “tough battles”.

Water levels are gradually receding in parts of southern Ukraine that were flooded after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, according to officials. Meanwhile, evidence is growing that the dam was blown up after seismic data showed there was a blast at the site in the early hours of Tuesday. Norsar, the Norwegian Seismic Array, said signals from a regional station in Romania pointed to an explosion at 2.54am. Norsar did not draw conclusions on who was responsible.