Ukraine breaches Russian-controlled Nova Kakhovka dam causing major flooding for down stream towns
The Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled area of southern Ukraine was breached on Tuesday 6 June 2023, unleashing a flood of water to the downstream area.
Predictably, the familiar “false flag” strategy was rolled out without any evidence, by Ukraine’s military and its NATO partners. These and their media acolytes have accused Russia of blowing up the dam which Russia controlled and which is crucial to providing the drinking water supply to the Russian territory of Crimea.
A recycling of the now discredited Nord Stream rant: “the Russians did it!”
The upper chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, placed the blame for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on Ukraine and its Western backers and called on legislatures in other countries to give their assessment of the incident.
Russian senators condemned what they described as a “terrorist act by the Kiev regime” and said that the rupture of the dam has led to a “major ecological catastrophe” along the path of the Dnieper River.
The Russian senators went on to accuse the West of launching a “disinformation campaign” aimed at shifting the blame for the dam’s destruction to Moscow.
The dam was built in the early 1950’s by the Soviet Union, and it was already damaged due to previous Ukrainian shelling. The sluice gates were not working properly and as a consequence the water in the reservoir already went over the top of the dam instead through the spillways as intended thus likely weakening the dam.
Thousands of people have had to be evacuated from nearby settlements, including the town of Nova Kakhova on the edge of dam, which was flooded, and the Kherson region, part of which is controlled by the Ukraine regime.
A German hydrologist, Arnd Hartlieb, warned the destruction of the ‘important’ dam may have catastrophic consequences.
The dam also provides cooling water to the Russian controlled nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia, around 160 kilometers upstream. Ukrainian forces have been shelling both the dam and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for months. The dam is also a key source of drinking water for Crimea, which Ukrainian forces have several times attempted to sabotage. The dam operator is reported to have said the station was “fully destroyed” and could not be restored.
Sources:
- ShanghaiEye, 7 Jun 2023. https://www.shanghaieye.com.cn/
- RT News, 8 June 2023. https://www.rt.com/russia/577723-russian-parliament-statement-kakhovka-dam/