Why Russia Blew Up the Kakhovskaya Hydroelectric Power Station and “Washed Away” Its Defenses: Experts Speak Up

It is worth noting that analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) see the pragmatic interest of the occupiers in flooding the lower reaches of the Dnieper. In particular, its expansion should complicate Ukrainian counteroffensive attempts due to a water body that is already difficult to force. And some published footage suggests that several positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the river were flooded and the fighters were forced to withdraw.

The military-political expert of the Information Resistance group Alexander Kovalenko agrees that the enemy in the Kherson region is afraid of a possible forcing of the Dnieper by Ukrainian forces. But there can also be related goals.

“They provoked such a large-scale catastrophe in order to divert our resources to solving humanitarian problems. In this way they want to slow down preparations for a counteroffensive,” he said.

Although, perhaps, one should not look for logic in the actions of the Russians to destroy the dam. Military expert Vladislav Seleznev believes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have no technical capabilities for normal forcing. And he recalls that the only large landing ship “Konstantin Olshansky” has been in occupied Sevastopol since 2014.

In his opinion, other elements of the Navy are not able to ensure the movement of a sufficient amount of military equipment and personnel from the right to the left bank.

“But it seems to me that the Russians are trying to avoid even the illusory risks associated with the Ukrainian counter-offensive. And therefore they resorted to such a daring provocation. It is obvious that they also flooded their trenches and other defensive structures that had been built for several months. Now it takes time to restore them,” Seleznev noted.

Expert Aleksey Getman named another possible target.

According to him, the Russians understand that they will not be able to contain the offensive in the south and are already looking for ways to get out. It is impossible to talk about a retreat, and a story with a “goodwill gesture” is unlikely to be sold a third time. One thing remains – they can refer to the fact that allegedly Ukraine blew up the dam and flooded the defenses on the left bank. After that, they will be forced to retreat at least 10-15 kilometers.

“What exactly was the main goal, we will find out later. Or maybe we won’t find out. By and large, what’s the difference? This is a terrorist act. According to UN normative documents, undermining a dam is equated with the use of weapons of mass destruction,” he added.

Undermining the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station

On the night of June 6, the Russians blew up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. Ukrhydroenergo said that the HPP was completely destroyed and cannot be restored.

Ukrainian intelligence said that the Russians remotely blew up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. President Volodymyr Zelensky is confident that the Russians mined and blew up the dam.

Due to the explosion of the hydroelectric power station, a number of settlements in the Kherson, Nikolaev, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions went under water.

In particular, 600 square meters have already been flooded in the Kherson region. km. The worst situation was on the left bank of the Dnieper, which is still under hostile occupation. At the same time, the Russians do not help residents in flooded areas and do not allow them to evacuate.

In addition, in the occupied Oleshki, three people died due to flooding, and in Vasilievka, Mykolaiv region, one victim is known.

Why Russia blew up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and “washed away” its defenses, read in the RBC-Ukraine article.