The link, history repeating itself, only this time the population could be greater.
https://www.rferl.org/a/european-rem.../25083847.html
The Zaporizhzhya events took place in August 1941. As Nazi troops approached the city, 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 and temporarily cutting off part of the city from the invaders.
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 officers 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 between 20,000 and 100,000, based on the number of people then living in the flooded areas.
'People Were Screaming'
Survivor Oleksiy Dotsenko says the Dnieper turned red that day.
His account, recorded four years ago by the television channel 1+1, is one of the last remaining testimonies of the tragedy.
"People were screaming for help. Cows were mooing, pigs were squealing. People were climbing on trees," he recalled.