Dnieper hydroelectric dam in Ukraine after explosion, historical video

The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (Ukrainian: ДніпроГЕС; commonly the Dnipro Dam) was a run-of-river power plant from 1932 on the Dnieper River in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

In 1941-08-18, as German troops swept through Soviet-era Ukraine, Josef Stalin's secret police blew up a hydroelectric dam in the southern city of Zaporizhzhya.

The explosion flooded villages along the banks of the Dnieper River, killing thousands of civilians.

The Zaporizhzhya events took place in 18 August 1941. As German troops approached the city, russian Moscow sent in agents from the NKVD, the predecessor of the KGB, to blow up the city's DniproHES hydroelectric dam. The team successfully carried out its secret mission - which historians say was ordered by Stalin himself - tearing a hole in the dam.

But the explosion also flooded villages and settlements along the Dnieper River. The tidal surge killed thousands of unsuspecting civilians, as well as Red Army troops who were crossing over the river.

Since no official death toll was released at the time, the estimated number of victims varies widely. Most historians put it at 80000-100000, based on the number of people then living in the flooded areas.