For starters, who was responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam?
To be honest, we have no idea.
Both Ukraine and Russia have previously blamed the other for attempts to destroy the dam. It was projected that Russia will demolish it in order to produce a flood by President Volodymyr Zelensky in October.
The Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine’s Kherson area said that Ukrainian missile attacks on the dam were an attempt to divert attention from the alleged shortcomings of the country’s counteroffensive in the east. The dam had already been damaged, so it broke on its own, according to other Russian-appointed administrators of occupied territories.
This, however, conflicts with the unconfirmed images that have been surfacing on Twitter showing mines that appear to have been installed near the dam and are subsequently detonating.
The odds favor Russia being at fault. If the Kremlin is successful in its quest to demolish Ukraine and save face for Vladimir Putin, it will have gained the most.
The Ukrainian military intelligence service claims that Russian soldiers blew up the dam “in a panic” in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine.
According to a message posted on Telegram, “the occupiers blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Reservoir in a panic — this is an obvious act of terrorism and a war crime, which will be evidence in an international tribunal.”
The “Russian terrorists,” Zelensky said without delay, were to blame. He wrote on Twitter, “The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land.”
Ukrainian troops’ push to the south and east will be slowed, and many of the country’s rescue services will be diverted as they try to save thousands of civilians from the horrific deluge unleashed by the dam break.
Experts have warned The Moscow Times that Russia’s plans to knock down important Ukrainian energy infrastructure include destroying the dam and its hydroelectric station, which delivers electricity to tens of thousands of Ukrainians.
Some pro-Ukrainian observers noted that water levels in the Kakhovka reservoir had risen to their highest point in 30 years, suggesting that Moscow had prepared to maximize the damage from a dam breach.
However, it’s not just the Ukrainian people who will be affected. Russian-held territories and the canal systems that irrigate Crimea, which has been controlled by Russia since 2014, might be devastated by the flood, which is now pushing 18 cubic kilometers of water downstream. The flooding is expected to be severe on the side of the Dnieper controlled by Russia, according to some analysts.
