Seismologists from the Norwegian Seismic Array monitoring group (NORSAR) have detected signals of an explosion in the area of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam, which collapsed Tuesday and caused catastrophic flooding in the south of the country.
Data from NORSAR’s regional seismic stations showed signals of an explosion on June 6 at 02:54 a.m. local time (1:54 a.m. Norwegian time), the group of researchers said in a statement.
“Time and location coincide with reports in the media about the collapse of the Kakhovka dam,” the statement said.
The researchers did not specify what caused the explosion at the dam, which Russia has controlled since invading Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials have called for an international investigation into the dam’s destruction, which they blame on Russia.
“The evidence should be carefully collected and presented,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press event on Thursday.
“Without international investigation teams … we won’t be able to do that.”
The Kremlin has denied the accusations, instead saying Kyiv was behind the dam’s collapse.
Flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has sparked the evacuations of thousands of people along the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, which remains partially occupied by Russian forces.