In the following discussion with Alexander Mercouris and Alex Christoforou of The Duran, they provide an overview of the bombing of the Kakhovka dam which the west is of course blaming on Russia when, like the bombing of the Nordstream II pipeline, it makes no sense whatsoever.
Please note the rumours of the war shifting to “terror” attacks by Ukraine in Russia.
The video below is by someone who possesses knowledge of hydroelectric and nuclear plants provides a good overview of the situation with the Kakhovka Dam and the Zaporozhye Power Plant. He does however apparently believe the west’s rhetoric with respect to responsibility for the bombing.
Before you watch it, please note this two comments on the video:
Nuclear engineer here. The plant has a few months of shutdown cooling water with their spray ponds. They will need to find ways to replenish. The good news is the spray pond design and retention pond in total give them a huge amount of cooling time. The reactors and spent fuel will need cooling for another 6 months minimum before the spent fuel fire risk passes.
It takes a LOT of explosive to breach a well constructed dam. At Grand Coulee in the US, when they wanted to add a second powerhouse, it required 600 TONS of HE to make room for it, without endangering the main structure at all. This would have required a large number of placed charges, all set off nearly simultaneously. The probability of it being an accidental overtopping or a missile strike with enough power to breach the main dam is almost nil.
There is also this good Twitter thread which was linked beneath the video regarding the seemingly safe state of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant:
It is certainly curious that British Secretary of State, James Cleverly apparently just happened to be visiting Kiev at the time of the bombing. Not surprisingly, he was very quick off the mark to attribute blame to Russia for the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. The UK and U.S. have been operating in tandem in Ukraine in their proxy war against Russia since the beginning.
[1/5] British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly speak with members of the Halo Trust non-commercial charity organisation for demining, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Hrebelky, in Kyiv region, Ukraine June 6, 2023. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Summary
Russia's invasion responsible for dam damage
Cleverly reiterates British support for Ukraine
Says Britain, U.S. on same page on weapons delivery
HREBELKY, Ukraine, June 6 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Tuesday it was too early to give a meaningful assessment of the details behind the destruction of a dam in southern Ukraine, but that it had happened because of Russia's invasion.
On a visit to Ukraine, Cleverly reaffirmed London's support for how Kyiv defends itself against the Russian invasion and said Britain would continue to help provide Ukraine with the weaponry it needs.
Speaking to Reuters in Hrebelky, east of Kyiv, Cleverly said he had heard reports of an explosion at the Kakhovka dam in a Russian controlled-part of southern Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia traded blame, saying it was an intentional attack by the other's forces.
"I’ve heard reports of the explosion on the dam and the risk of flooding. It’s too early to make any kind of meaningful assessment of the details," Cleverly told Reuters after watching demining efforts in Hrebelky and also taking part.
"But it’s worth remembering that the only reason this is an issue at all is because of Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine."
We’ll continue to assess the developing situation, but the best thing Russia could do now is withdraw their troops immediately,” he said.
Britain has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February last year, and Cleverly has been touring countries to try to persuade them to maintain their levels of help for Kyiv.
He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday to discuss how Britain could continue to best support Ukraine "from the battlefield to banking guarantees".
'IN THE SAME PLACE' ON ARMS SUPPLIES
In Hrebelky, he watched sappers work on demining a field, a programme organised by the charity Halo Trust.
Asked about incursions into Russia, in which Russian armed groups have crossed from Ukraine into Russia's western borderlands, Cleverly said it was up to Kyiv to decide how it defended itself.
Ukraine has denied any role in the cross-border raids in the Belgorod region.
"The decisions about how Ukraine conducts that self-defence are rightly decisions by Ukraine's leadership," he said.
He said there was no split with the United States over the provision of weapons to Ukraine, after Britain supplied Kyiv with long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles which could potentially allow Ukraine to strike further into Russia.
"All countries have put limitations on the equipment that we have donated. In most instances, it means that equipment could be used within Ukrainian territory," he said.
"On that issue, the UK and US are in the same place. We will continue to work closely with our international allies in how to provide support for Ukraine in its desire to regain its country."
Reporting by Stefaniia Bern, Writing by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Bernadette Baum
Ukrainian forces sabotaged the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in Russia’s Kherson Region in a bid to deprive Crimea of drinking water and distract from Kiev’s faltering counteroffensive, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed on Tuesday.
Please also listen to Alexander Mercouris’s analysis of the situation on the ground.
“Disaster Day in Ukraine: Kakhovka Dam Destroyed, Ukraine Suffers Heavy Defeat Zaporozhzhye S. Donbass, Rus Claims Heavy Ukr Losses, Incl 8 Leopard Tanks”
At least seven people went missing in the Russian city of Novaya Kakhovka after a local hydroelectric dam was destroyed on Tuesday in what Moscow claims was a Ukrainian strike, local authorities said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Vladimir Leontyev, the mayor of Novaya Kakhovka, noted, however, that preliminary information indicates that those people may have been rescued from the islands on the Dnieper River that went underwater.
“We are talking about herdsmen there… There were seven people that we know about for sure”, he stated, adding that search and rescue efforts are still underway.
The mayor went on to say that the riverside settlement of Korsunka had gone completely underwater, while in the settlements of Dniepriany, Krynky, and Kazachiy Lageri the water had reached the buildings’ roofs.
He also stated that on Tuesday the local authorities had managed to evacuate more than 900 people from the flooded areas, adding that this number includes 17 people who had been stranded on the roofs of buildings in an attempt to evade the gushing water.
Meanwhile, Leontyev noted that the water level in Novaya Kakhovka decreased by 35cm overnight. A day earlier, local emergency services said that the water in the area had risen by as much as 12 meters.
The authorities in Russia’s Kherson Region, where the dam breach took place, declared a state of emergency across the entire territory. Vladimir Saldo, the local governor, said that in total between 22,000 and 40,000 people were located in the disaster area.
Moscow and Kiev traded accusations over who is to blame for the incident, which triggered mass evacuation efforts on both sides of the Dnieper River. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of “deliberate sabotage” in a bid to deprive Crimea of drinking water and deflect attention away from Kiev’s botched counteroffensive in Donbass.
However, Ukraine denied responsibility, with President Vladimir Zelensky claiming that the facility was damaged in a Russian “terrorist attack.”
A major breach of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in Russia’s Kherson Region inundated huge swaths of land on the banks of the Dnieper River, prompting large-scale evacuation efforts in the area. Moscow claimed that the facility was damaged by a Ukrainian strike, while Kiev placed the blame on Russia.
Built in 1956, the 30-meter tall and 3.2-kilometer-long Kakhovka hydroelectric dam contains some 18 cubic kilometers of water, roughly the same volume as the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah.
What happened?
On Tuesday morning, Vladimir Leontyev, the mayor of Novaya Kakhovka, a city located close to the dam, said that part of the facility had been destroyed by a Ukrainian strike, which reportedly used a multiple launch rocket system.
With at least 14 of dam’s 28 spans having collapsed, Leontyev said that the water level in the area had risen by more than ten meters, resulting in the town being flooded. Against this backdrop, the local authorities started evacuating residents from several riverside settlements, with some 300 buildings being vacated.
Russian officials also said that 14 nearby settlements with a total population of 22,000 are at risk of flooding. Meanwhile, Kiev assessed that some 80 towns are now in the danger zone and also ordered evacuations from the towns it currently occupies.
Leontyev stated that the water level will return to normal within 72 hours.
Who is to blame?
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov claimed that the incident “was caused by a deliberate Ukrainian sabotage,” warning of “dire ramifications” for tens of thousands of local residents and the ecosystem.
[…]
Impact on Crimea
Sergey Aksyonov, the governor of the Russian peninsula, stated that while the incident at the Kakhovka dam won’t cause any flooding in Crimea, it may lead to a decreased water level in the North Crimea Canal, which serves as a key water source.
Still, he emphasized that the local water reservoirs are filled to 80% of their capacity, adding that “there is more than enough drinking water” and that efforts were underway to minimize the losses.
The explosion of the dam will make any military operations in the area much more difficult, Russian military commentator Vladislav Ugolny believes. “The isles [on the Dnieper River], which the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been contesting since November [2022], will be flooded,” he said, adding that the location of the isles was initially more favorable for the Ukrainian troops.
Now, both sides had to retreat from the area and take positions on the opposite banks of the Dnieper River, he explained, adding that a “race” over control for this part of the river has been halted. Ugolny also warned about the potential risk of the dam crumbling further, adding that any real repair work is impossible under the current circumstances.
