VIDEO | Andonovic: The huge Kakhovka dam that supplies Zaporozhye nuclear plant has been destroyed - is a nuclear disaster threatening?
Ukrainian and Russian forces blame each other for blowing up the dam, explosions at a Soviet-era dam in the Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine caused flooding across the war zone this morning.
Unconfirmed videos on social media show a series of intense explosions around the Kakhovka dam. Other videos showed water flowing through the remains of the dam as people expressed shock.
"Russia's destruction of the dam is 'ecocide,' but national and regional authorities are working to secure the local population," the head of Ukraine's presidential administration said on Tuesday.
The destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is a terrible technogenic, ecological and humanitarian catastrophe.
The aftermath of destroying the dam of Kakhovka HPP have been modeled previously – they are on the video.
The future of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant... pic.twitter.com/EQDEeR7e7N
- Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 6, 2023
Kiev considers that Russian actions also pose a threat to the nearby Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, without providing details.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds an emergency meeting over the dam explosion, and says Russia's destruction of the dam under Russian occupation confirms that Moscow's forces "must be expelled" from all of Ukraine.
The 30-meter-high, 3,2-kilometer-long dam, which has the same amount of water as the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah, was built in 1956 on the Dnieper River as part of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Plant.
#Russia blew up the dams of the #Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. The purpose is obvious: to create insurmountable obstacles on the way of the advancement #AFU; to intercept the information initiative; to slow down the fair final of the war. On a vast territory, all life will be… pic.twitter.com/rFpkDbjyhj
- Mihajlo Podoliak (@Podolyak_M) June 6, 2023
It also supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is also under Russian control.
According to local authorities, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, is not yet in danger of the dam collapsing.
The nuclear power plant receives its cooling water from a reservoir.
Russians know that their defeat in Ukraine is inevitable. The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam is not only an act of desperation but especially an act of terror and petty revenge. The military component is negligible and actually even by rules of engagement a… pic.twitter.com/fLivSKKtjC
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) June 6, 2023
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces blew up the dam, while Russian sources blamed Ukraine.
Russian news agencies reported that the dam, which is controlled by Russian forces, was destroyed by shelling, while a Russian official said it was a terrorist attack, a term Russians use to describe an attack from Ukraine.
For now, it is unclear who did the demolition. One of the theories is that the Russian forces are behind the demolition in order to flood this area and thus prevent the announced Ukrainian offensive that is planned to go in the direction of the Crimean peninsula.
Russia blew up Kakhovka HPP. It's a disaster. It contains 18 million cubic meters of water. Direct threat to Zaporizhzhia NPP ☢️ and settlements down the river including Kherson. Awful. Zelensky convenes the National Security Council. pic.twitter.com/tMup9XMOqN
- Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) June 6, 2023
Clashes have intensified in many parts of Ukraine over the past two days, but Kiev has yet to say whether this is the start of a long-announced counteroffensive.
The fighting on the frontline in Ukraine is getting fiercer. While the Russian Ministry of Defense claims that its forces repelled a major Ukrainian offensive in Donetsk, in Kiev they are silent about the start of a long-announced counteroffensive, but they have already managed to regain some territory around Bakhmut.
Intelligence data leaked through the Western media claim that the Ukrainian network of saboteurs is increasingly preparing and carrying out attacks on Russian territory.
