Too soon to assess agriculture losses from Ukraine dam breach in Russian-controlled areas – Russian deputy PM

A senior Russian official said on Thursday it was too soon to assess agricultural losses in Russian-controlled areas from the breaching of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam, state news agency TASS said.

The dam burst flooded huge areas of Kherson region, one of four that Russia claimed last year as its own territory after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, we cannot yet estimate the total amount of losses for agriculture. We need all the water to drain. And then we will be able to understand which farmers have suffered this damage and to what extent,” TASS quoted Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko as saying.

Russian forces control about 18% of the territory of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain producers. A majority of countries at the United Nations General Assembly have rejected the annexations as illegal.

TASS quoted Abramchenko as saying the flood would not affect Russia’s crop forecasts overall.

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of blowing up the dam in the early hours of June 6.