White House says it is still assessing origin of Kakhovka dam destruction, but Russia ultimately to blame.

The White House says that while it is still assessing who is responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, Russia is ultimately to blame as the dam was under Russian-occupation, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said[1] during a briefing on June 7. "Russia has no business to be (in Ukraine) in the first place. This dam was under Russia's control, and they bear responsibility for the destruction caused by this war," Jean-Pierre said.

She also said that the United States "will do everything that we can to help the people of Ukraine, certainly," amid the devastation and destruction brought on by the dam's demolition. Ukraine's military reported[2] early in the morning of June 6 that Russia had blown up the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, causing massive flooding of areas downstream of the Dnipro River, including the city of Kherson. Following the news, U.S.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said[3] that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration's could not "say conclusively" who was responsible for the explosion at the dam.   "We've seen the reports that Russia was responsible for the explosion at the dam, which I would remind, Russian forces took over illegally last year, and have been occupying since then.

We're doing the best we can to assess those reports," Kirby said. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council chief Oleksii Danilov said[4] on June 6 that all of Russia's claims that Ukraine was responsible for blowing up the dam were "nonsense." "(Russians) are suffocating with anger because they cannot solve the issue through military means.

That is why they are inventing various nonsense without any grounds," he said.

'They are destroying us.' People plea to escape flooded Russian-occupied areas Editor's note: For this story, we spoke to people living or having family in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. For their safety, they are identified by first name only.

After destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam and stranding thousands of Ukrainians in the catastrophic flood zone, Russians prevent...

[5] Lili Bivings

Contributing editor

Lili is a contributing editor at the Kyiv Independent. She joined the Kyiv Post in 2021 first as a staff writer covering business news and then as business editor. Lili is originally from Washington, D.C., but currently resides in New York where she recently completed a master's degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian affairs with a focus on Ukrainian studies at Columbia University.

From 2017-2020 Lili served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, after which she interned with the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

References

  1. ^ said (www.whitehouse.gov)
  2. ^ reported (kyivindependent.com)
  3. ^ said (kyivindependent.com)
  4. ^ said (kyivindependent.com)
  5. ^ 'They are destroying us.' People plea to escape flooded Russian-occupied areasEditor's note: For this story, we spoke to people living or having family in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

    For their safety, they are identified by first name only.

    After destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam and stranding thousands of Ukrainians in the catastrophic flood zone, Russians prevent... (kyivindependent.com)

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