Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday evening accused the Russians of having mined a dam of a hydroelectric power station located in the Kherson region, in southern Ukraine, and under the control of Moscow forces.
"According to our information, the aggregates and the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station were mined by Russian terrorists," said President Zelensky in his daily address published on social networks.
"If the dam is destroyed, the North Crimean Canal will simply disappear", and it would be "a large-scale disaster", added the Ukrainian president, who had already mentioned this possibility during a speech shortly before, before the Council of the European Union.
The destruction of the dam could also affect the cooling of the reactors of the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant which draws its water from this artificial lake of 18 million cubic meters, said the Ukrainian president.
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The Kakhovka hydroelectric power station dam is built on the Dnieper River, in an area currently under Russian army control and not far from the line of contact with Ukrainian forces.
After having retreated significantly in northeastern Ukraine, Moscow's forces are also under pressure in the south around Kherson.