Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the dam to slow down the Ukrainian counter-offensive. New drone footage has emerged, confirming the suspicion.
Ukraine presents new alleged evidence that Russia allegedly blew up the Kakhovka dam. The Associated Press news agency has photos showing a car apparently loaded with explosives at the dam. A drone reportedly took the photos on May 28. The dam was finally destroyed on June 6, causing widespread flooding in the region. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s special forces told the AP that the car carrying explosives may not have been there to blow up the dam, but to prevent the Ukrainian military from approaching the barrier. The explosion itself came from within. According to the Ukrainians, however, the photos showed Russian intentions to destroy the dam.
Days after the flood, the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU announced 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.
Thousands of people affected by floods
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.
The plant was under the control of Russian troops at the time of the explosion. 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.
Armed Forces Major General Günther Hofbauer also said two weeks ago that the situation tended to point to the Russian side as the cause. Both in military use and demolition procedure.
According to the Norwegian seismological institute Norsar, there was an explosion at the dam at the time of its destruction. “We are sure there was an explosion,” Norsar chief Ben Dando told AFP days after the explosion. This would confirm the general belief that the dam was destroyed by deliberate action – and did not give in due to damage from previous bombings. The institute did not provide information about the possible trigger of the explosion.
>> The AP News article
(APA/Portal/Red)