Military: Kakhovka dam explosion will not stop Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam in Kherson Oblast on June 6 will not prevent Ukraine's planned counteroffensive, Ukraine's Armed Forces said[1]. Ukraine's military said it is "equipped with all the necessary watercraft and pontoon bridges for crossing water obstacles," adding that Russia's actions "will not stop Ukraine's Defense Forces, which are ready to liberate Ukraine's occupied territories." The military said that Russian forces destroyed the dam due to their "fear of the Ukrainian army" and the "success of Ukraine's Defense Forces in carrying out offensive actions."

Meanwhile, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov called[2] the  destruction of the dam a "fundamentally new stage of Russian aggression." "The complete and final dismantling of the Kremlin's entirely false ideological construct has taken place," Danilov said, calling Russia's false claims about the so-called "liberation of Ukraine," "fight against the Nazis," and exclusive targeting of military targets "purely propaganda and false theses." Russian forces destroyed[3] the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam across the Dnipro River on the morning of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.

Built in 1956, the power plant is a crucial component of Ukraine's energy infrastructure. According to Ukraine's state hydroelectric power company, the damage caused[4] by the breach is "impossible to repair." Around 16,000 people's homes in Kherson Oblast are reportedly located[5] in "critical risk" zones for flooding.

Seven hundred and forty-two people have been evacuated[6] from Kherson Oblast as of 10:00 a.m. local time, according to the Interior Ministry.

Russian forces destroy Kakhovka dam, triggering humanitarian disaster The dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant across the Dnipro River, occupied by Russian forces, was destroyed on the morning of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine. Ukraine's Southern Operational Command reported early in the morning...

Opinion editor

Teah Pelechaty is the opinion editor at the Kyiv Independent.

She is also a co-editor of Belarus Weekly, the Kyiv Independent's weekly update on current affairs in Belarus. She received a master's degree in Global Affairs with a specialization in Global Security and Digital Governance at the University of Toronto and Sciences Po. She was previously a junior policy analyst in national security at the Government of Canada and a research associate with the European Values Center for Security Policy and the Atlantic Council.

References

1. ^ said (t.me)
2. ^ called (www.facebook.com)
3. ^ destroyed (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ caused (kyivindependent.com)
5. ^ located (kyivindependent.com)
6. ^ evacuated (kyivindependent.com)
7. ^ Russian forces destroy Kakhovka dam, triggering humanitarian disasterThe dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant across the Dnipro River, occupied by Russian forces, was destroyed on the morning of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.

   Ukraine's Southern Operational Command reported early in the morning... (kyivindependent.com)