The Ukrainian large-scale counteroffensive has begun, and the Russian forces are trying to stop it in every way possible.
On Tuesday, the Russian forces detonated explosives within the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, destroying the dam and flooding large parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.
A Desperate Action
Since the start of the Russian invasion, the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and dam have been a strategic target.
Almost 100 feet high, the facility has been under Russian control since the opening hours of the war. It is located about 45 miles to the east of Kherson City and provides electricity, irrigation, and drinkable water to a large chunk of southern Ukraine, including the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
The flooding could submerge parts of Kherson City and endanger the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant that is in the area. The Kremlin, which controls the nuclear power plant, has shown a disregard for the largest nuclear facility in Europe, stationing troops and firing artillery from its vicinity.
Moscow likely decided to destroy the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and dam to stall or stop the advance of Ukrainian forces in the south. It is still not clear where the Ukrainian forces will direct their counteroffensive, but the south is a likely target because it leads to the Crimean Peninsula. The flooding caused by the destruction of the dam will restrict large-scale mechanized maneuvers in the area and help the Russian forces defend better.
Although large-scale fighting ended in Kherson after the Russian forces retreated from Kherson City and the western bank of the province in November, there have been skirmishes between the two sides and exchanges of artillery. Ukrainian special forces have been conducting amphibious raids along the Dnipro River, destroying Russian command and control centers and taking prisoners.
The Blame Game
Russian officials were quick to blame Ukraine for the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and dam, claiming that it was Ukrainian artillery shells that destroyed the facility and unleashed millions of gallons of water into the area.
However, the Ukrainians have denied the allegations, highlighting the logistical difficulties of destroying the facility from a distance and the strategic shortcomings of such an act.
“Russia has been controlling the dam and the entire Kakhovka HPP for more than a year. It is physically impossible to blow it up somehow from the outside by shelling. It was mined by the Russian occupiers. And they blew it up,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated.
“Russia has detonated a bomb of mass environmental destruction. This is the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades. It is the most dangerous terrorist in the world. And that is why Russia’s defeat – a defeat that we’ll ensure anyway – will be the most significant contribution to the security of our region, our Europe and the entire world,” the Ukrainian leader added.
The destruction of the dam highlights the extent that the Kremlin will go to cling to the territory it has captured in Ukraine with no regard to the welfare of the people it claims to be liberated from the “Ukrainian yoke.”
A 19FortyFive Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
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