KIEV (dpa-AFX) – According to the military in Kiev and US experts, the Russian troops suffered losses due to the destruction of the Kachowka dam in southern Ukraine. The occupiers were not prepared for the consequences of the dam’s blow-up and therefore lost soldiers, equipment and military technology, the General Staff said in Kiev on Thursday. There are dead, injured and missing Russian soldiers. Experts from the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) also found that the floods from the reservoir destroyed Russian frontline defenses.
Russia occupies most of the Kherson region. Contrary to the assessment of many international observers, Moscow has claimed that Kiev deliberately destroyed the dam. Russian military bloggers believe that Ukrainian troops can now penetrate the occupied territory more easily in order to recapture the region and then the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Ukraine dismisses this as Russian propaganda, emphasizing that Russian troops mined and then blew up the dam and hydroelectric power station. From Kiev’s point of view, the aim of this “terrorist attack” is Russian plans to slow down the planned major Ukrainian offensive.
The Russian research group CIT (Conflict Intelligence Team), which is close to the opposition, sees the cause of the disaster in “criminal negligence on the part of the occupiers”. The Russian troops had not regulated the outflow of water from the reservoir since November 2022 and thus accepted the bursting of the wall. The gradual destruction of the dam can be seen on satellite images and documented by independent sources.
On the other hand, on Tuesday, shortly after the explosion, Ukraine named the army unit and the commander who, according to their knowledge, caused the explosion. The central Russian investigative committee in Moscow has launched an investigation. An investigation into the causes of the destruction of the power plant is being discussed internationally./mau/DP/mis