Kyiv says destruction of Kakhovka dam is a new stage of Russian aggression

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine is a fundamentally new stage of Russian aggression, a senior Ukrainian security official said on Tuesday.

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said Russia had moved from trying to justify its invasion of Ukraine with what he called propaganda myths to declaring its true objectives openly - "to ruin Ukraine, kill Ukrainians, destroy the economy" and civilian "life-support structures."

Russia has previously denied targeting civilians.