Ukraine dam breach will sow huge problems for food security - UN's Griffiths

A local resident looks at his flooded building after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the flooded village of Afanasiivka in Kherson region, Ukraine June 12, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Klymenko

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United Nations on Tuesday said the breach of the huge Soviet-era dam on the Dnipro river in Ukraine will have a huge impact on global food security, lead to a rise in food prices and could cause drinking water problems for hundreds of thousands.

The dam, part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, was breached in the early hours of June 6, allowing some of the 18 cubic kilometres of water it held back to surge down across a swathe of southern Ukraine.