DISINFO: Kyiv sabotaged the Kakhovka dam to hide the offensive's lack of success
SUMMARY
Kyiv's sabotage at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station is associated with the lack of success during the Ukrainian troops' offensive. Apparently, this sabotage is also connected with the fact that, having launched large-scale offensive operations two days ago, the Ukrainian armed forces are now not achieving their goals. These offensive actions are choking.
RESPONSE
Disinformation aiming to shift the blame for the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and the resulting humanitarian and ecological catastrophe away from Russia.
The Nova Kakhovka dam was captured by Russia at the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and has been held by it ever since.
In October 2022, as Ukraine was in the midst of reclaiming large parts of occupied Kherson, Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up the dam, warning that it would flood a large area of southern Ukraine. At the time, he claimed that Russian forces had planted explosives inside the dam.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission Josep Borrell said:
The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam represents a new dimension of Russian atrocities, putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk. Attacks on civilian infrastructure qualify as war crimes.
Multiple Western leaders have condemned the destruction of the dam, pointing out the brutality of Russia's war in Ukraine.
A dam in Ukraine was designed to withstand almost any attack imaginable — from the outside. The evidence suggests Russia blew it up from within.
The attack looks like an attempt to limit Ukrainian forces in their counterattack. The downstream flooding is putting at risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians in around 80 settlements, including the city of Kherson. It aggravates the already dire humanitarian situation in those areas.
See related disinformation claims alleging that the Kakhovka dam attack is part of Kyiv's political plan; Kyiv's regime blew up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station at the dam; and that the Kakhovka dam attack was a pretext for more sanctions.