Ukraine blew up Kakhovka dam as revenge for failed offensive, says Russia

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday claimed that Ukrainian forces blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in Russia’s Kherson Region in a bid to deprive Crimea of drinking water and distract from Kyiv’s faltering counteroffensive.

The dam was partially destroyed early on Tuesday morning, sending torrents of water downstream and flooding towns and villages along the path of the Dnieper River.

“We are talking about a deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side,” Russia Today quoted Peskov as saying.

“This sabotage could potentially lead to very serious consequences for several tens of thousands of inhabitants of the region, environmental consequences and consequences of a different nature, which have yet to be established,” he added.

According to the report, Peskov claimed that one of the key goals of the attack was to deprive Crimea of water.

Crimea’s 2 million residents largely receive their water from the North Crimean Canal, which is fed from the reservoir above the Kakhovka dam.

“This sabotage is also connected with the fact that, having launched large-scale offensive operations two days ago, the Ukrainian armed forces are not achieving their goals,” Peskov said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has said it repelled several large-scale attacks in the southern sector of the front in recent days. These “offensive actions are choking,” Peskov added.

Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up dam

Meanwhile, Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam.

“Russia has detonated a bomb of mass environmental destruction,” Zelenskyy said in a statement, calling it “the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades.”

He blamed the Kremlin, describing Putin’s regime as “the most dangerous terrorist in the world.”

“It is physically impossible to blow it up somehow from the outside, by shelling,” he said, responding to Russian claims that Ukraine had carried out the destruction. “It was mined by the Russian occupiers, and they blew it up.”

Water surged through the critical Kakhovka dam Tuesday, unleashing flooding across the war zone in southern Ukraine, sparking evacuations, and triggering warnings of an “ecological disaster.”

The dramatic incident could have far-reaching consequences on the battlefield and beyond.

At least one town next to the dam was already completely flooded, according to its mayor, and officials are concerned about drinking water supplies throughout the region.

With inputs from agencies

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