According to Ukraine, it has evidence that Russia is responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. The Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU announced on Friday that it had recorded a telephone conversation between Russian troops.
Ukraine claims to have proof that Russia is responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. The Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU announced on Friday that it had recorded a telephone conversation between Russian troops. This proves that a Russian sabotage force blew up the hydroelectric plant and dam in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.
Because of the resulting floods, thousands of people had to flee the affected areas on the Dnipro River. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the destruction. The Ukrainian secret service published the alleged recording of a one-and-a-half-minute telephone conversation on its Telegram channel. In it, two men apparently speak in Russian about the aftermath of the dam failure.
“They (Ukrainians) didn’t know him. That was our sabotage group,” said one of the men. He is described by the SBU as a Russian soldier. They wanted to spread terror. “It didn’t go as planned and they did more than they planned.” The man added that thousands of animals had died at a safari park downriver. The other participant was surprised by the presentation that Russian troops would have destroyed the hydroelectric plant and the dam.
The facility is under the control of Russian troops. The authenticity of the phone recording has yet to be verified. Russia initially did not comment on this. The SBU did not release further details about the call and the two callers.
four people died
According to Ukrainian sources, four people died in the Kherson region as a result of the floods. 13 people are still missing, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. 2,412 people were brought to safety.
Meanwhile, the water level in the reservoir continues to drop. Since Tuesday’s disaster, the level has dropped by almost five meters to 11.7 meters on Friday morning, said the state operator of the Ukrhydroenergo hydroelectric plant in Kiev. The water drops about a meter in 24 hours.
The state-owned company also highlighted that the dam wall, which has not yet completely collapsed, continues to break. The aim now is to impound the Dnipro water in the reservoirs above the Kachowka station to have reserves for the summer.
flood is decreasing
Meanwhile, in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region, floodwaters dropped by 20 centimeters from the previous day, according to the region’s Ukrainian military governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. The level scored 5.38 meters on Friday. 32 cities and over 3,600 homes are under water. Prokudin urged people to leave their flooded homes.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov compared the destruction of the dam to “the use of a tactical nuclear weapon”, given the catastrophic consequences. On Ukrainian radio, he personally blamed war crimes on Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. “Such decisions are taken only in the Kremlin and only by Putin,” said Danilov. The consequences for Russia are also catastrophic because the country will have to pay for the damages (APA/Portal/dpa)