The Kakhovka hydroelectric plant in Ukraine’s Kherson region, occupied by Russian troops, has been “damaged” after a Ukrainian attack on Sunday, regional emergency services told Russian news agencies.
“Today at 10 am, six Himars missiles were launched. Air defense units shot down five, one of which hit the sluice of the Kakhovka dam, which was damaged,” said a representative of the emergency services, quoted by Russian authorities.
Installed on the Dnieper River in 1956 during the Soviet period, the structure is partly built of cement and earth.
It is one of the largest infrastructures of its kind in Ukraine.
In recent weeks, Kiev has accused Moscow of wanting to detonate the dam that supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014. A complaint that was rejected by the Russian occupation authorities.
For several days, Russian occupation authorities have been evacuating civilians near the site in the face of a “possible rocket attack” on the Kakhovka Dam, the destruction of which would lead to the “flooding of the left bank” of the Dnieper River, according to the regional governor, installed by Moscow in Kherson, Vladimir Saldo.
If the dam explodes, “more than 80 sites, including Kherson, will be in the rapid-flood zone,” in turn warned the Council of the European Union on Oct. 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “This could interrupt the water supply to much of southern Ukraine” and affect the cooling of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which draws water from this 18 million cubic meters of artificial lake, the head of state warned.
Faced with the risk, Ukraine had requested an international observation mission.
Kakhovka is located about 60 km east of Kherson, the first major city to fall into Russian hands in March.
Source: DN
