After destroying a Ukrainian dam and displacing tens of thousands in one fell swoop, Russia could turn its sights on Europe's largest nuclear facility and trigger a radiation disaster of the likes not seen in almost 40 years.
Aerial images provided by the Maxar Technologies satellite company show the dam, which sits on the Dnieper River in Kherson, both before and after it was blown up.
The shocking pictures show masses of floodwater rushing through the freshly split concrete which was then carried down stream by the current.
Ukraine is now facing a major humanitarian disaster after the destruction of the Nova Kahkovka dam, which saw more than 20 towns overrun by the deluge, with footage coming out of the area showing entire towns submerged.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia's actions were akin to setting off an "environmental bomb of mass destruction".
He also urged the world to "react" after claiming that 80 settlements had been flooded.
"This crime carries enormous threats and will have dire consequences for people's lives and the environment," Zelensky said.
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As usual, the Kremlin accused Ukraine, saying that Kyiv was trying to distract from the stalling of its major counteroffensive.
Zelensky's top security official Oleksiy Danilov said this might be the first part of a larger attack, and that Moscow may be setting its sights on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Zaporizhzhia, which lies just up the Dnieper River, is around 150miles from Kakhova.
The facility also relies on water from the dam, using it to cool its reactors, a key part of maintaining the safety of the plant.
Speaking to The Times, Mr Danilov said: "[Putin has entered] a fundamentally new stage of Russian aggression' and that since he 'had the hydroelectric power plant blown up on his demand, he's ready to do anything."
A brief video shot yesterday showed swans swimming through the eerily flooded town of Nova Kakhovka, which was previously just road without water.
It's not clear what caused the breach in the Kakhovka dam - which was already damaged - but both sides have blamed each other.
Rishi Sunak warned that the destruction of the dam could be “the largest attack on civilian infrastructure” during the war in Ukraine.
As he flew to Washington DC for talks with President Biden, the PM said: “Our military and intelligence agencies are currently looking at it, so it’s too soon to make a definitive judgement.
“But what I can say is if it's intentional, it would represent, I think, the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the start of the war, and just demonstrate the new lows that we would have seen from Russian aggression.
“Attacks on civilian infrastructure are appalling and wrong. We've have seen previous instances of that in this conflict so far, but it's too early to say definitively.”
The 98-foot-high dam and associated hydroelectric power station sit in Russian-controlled territory along the Dnipro River about 44 miles east of the city of Kherson.
