In the Ukraine war, a catastrophe occurs with the explosion at the Kakhovka dam. Russia suspects Kiev itself behind the "deliberate sabotage".
KYIV – So far, the question of who is responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine cannot be clarified beyond doubt. In the explosion, which occurred on Tuesday morning (6 June), the associated hydroelectric power plant was "completely destroyed", according to Ukrainian sources. Repairs are also no longer within the realm of possibility, as the head of the energy operator announced. According to the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, 24 villages have been flooded by the masses of water.
On the Ukrainian side, Russia has been identified as the perpetrator of the humanitarian and ecological catastrophe caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. Moscow obviously has the goal of putting obstacles in the way of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak commented on the events on Twitter. He accused Russia of deliberately "blowing up" the dam.
Ukraine war: Russia sees "sabotage" by Kyiv behind explosion at dam
On the Russian side, on the other hand, any involvement in the dam explosion is denied. In its statement, the Kremlin spoke of the fact that Ukraine itself had caused the destruction of the plant: "This is clearly a deliberate sabotage of the Ukrainian side, planned and carried out on behalf of Kiev, the Kiev regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency Tass.
The dam is located on currently Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine. Vladimir Leontiev, the Russian-appointed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, described the explosion to Russian media as a "serious terrorist attack" and a "catastrophe caused by the Ukrainian authorities and those who govern them."
Ukraine war, a catastrophe occurs with the explosion at the Kakhovka Dam. © IMAGO/Alexei Konovalov (Itar-Tass)
Russia accuses Ukraine: dam explosion could weaken Kherson's position
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also blamed Kiev for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, which is also important for military strategy, and went one step further: According to his statement, the expected counteroffensive of the country, which has been battered by the Ukraine war, has already begun in recent days. However, this has not been successful so far. Now Kiev intends to weaken Russian positions in the Kherson region - apparently also with flooding.
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"For three days" the Ukrainian regime carried out its announced counteroffensive at various points along the front lines, Shoigu told the state news agency RIA Novosti on Russian television. "The offensive attempts were thwarted, the enemy was stopped," he further commented, attesting to the Russian soldiers' "courage and heroism" that they had shown in the fighting. Kiev has also suffered "significant and unparalleled losses".
Russia thinks Ukraine's counteroffensive has been "stopped"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last Saturday that his country's military was ready for a counteroffensive against Russian forces. "We firmly believe that we will be successful," he said in an interview with the US newspaper Wall Street Journal. However, the Ukrainian leader did not give an exact date for the start of the counteroffensive.
"Everything suggests that the Russians blew up the dam," military expert Carlo Masala told the news portal t-online. The facilities of the Kakhovka Dam have been occupied by Russian forces since last year, and the area is now flooded. According to Masala, Russia's goal is to slow down a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has already begun.
A river crossing is a difficult operation for armed forces, according to the professor at the Bundeswehr University in Munich. With rising water and the flooding of both banks of the river, Ukrainian offensive operations at that point would become virtually impossible. Nevertheless, Russia will not be able to completely stop a counteroffensive.
Ukraine war: Dam explosion "counterproductive" from Ukrainian point of view - but Russia benefits
Military expert Christian Mölling of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) also sees Russia behind the explosion. "The Russians want to disrupt the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which is beginning to work in some places," Mölling told the newspapers of the Funke media group. "Moreover, if it had been the Ukrainians, it would jeopardize Western support. That would be counterproductive."
As a result of the flooding, fewer Russian soldiers would now have to be present on the east side of the Dnipro River. This would allow Russia to distribute forces to other sectors of the front in the east. It is unlikely, however, that an advance across the Dnipro is at the center of Kiev's counteroffensive. (NA/dpa/AFP)