Russian occupation authorities ordered residents of three districts to leave their homes on Tuesday after the huge Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was breached in the early hours, but some locals said they would stay despite the rising waters.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Tuesday it was too early to give a meaningful assessment of the details behind the destruction of a dam in southern Ukraine, but that it had happened because of Russia's invasion.

Ukraine's military has accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam in the Moscow-seized town of Nova Kakhovka; Footage shows water gushing through the badly-damaged