President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned his colleagues in the West today (Friday) and claimed that Russia is threatening to blow up the Kukhova hydroelectric dam near Kherson. The dam of this hydroelectric power station holds thousands of liters of water.
“If the Russians blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, will be flooded. Hundreds of thousands of people could suffer. The water supply to a large part of southern Ukraine could be damaged. This Russian attack could leave the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant without cooling water.” , claimed in a conversation with the European Council.
The dam and hydroelectric plant are operating at much reduced capacity since the area was occupied by Russian forces in March. Ukrainian forces are about 40 km north of the dam. Over the past four months, they have launched several attacks against the bridge that is part of the dam to prevent its use by the Russian army.
According to him, Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are designed to create a new wave of refugees. “The current Russian leadership ordered to turn the energy system into a battlefield. The consequences are very dangerous, for all of us in Europe,” he said in a conversation with the European Council. Russian attacks on energy infrastructure caused Ukraine to lose at least 40% of its power generation capacity.
Mykhailo Podoliak, the adviser to the chief of staff of the President of Ukraine, claimed on Thursday that Russia is planning to blow up the dam and transformers, which will result in the deportation of Ukrainian citizens from Harson and the flooding of the area, since the land south and east of the river is low. “Russia is preparing a man-made catastrophe,” Podoliak said.
On the other hand, the head of the Nova Khakhovka administrative district appointed by Russia, Vladimir Leontiev, told the Russian media that it does not make sense for Russia to destroy the dam of the power plant. “What’s the point of Russia destroying it now? Even from a formal point of view, this is nonsense. It’s complete nonsense,” said Leontiev.
In addition to this, the Zelensky office claimed that in the last day, the Ukrainian forces managed to recapture more than 80 settlements in the Kherson region. According to them, over 500 settlements have already been liberated.
The US Secretary of Defense spoke with his counterparts in Ukraine and Russia
Also, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke earlier today, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. “Today’s talks between Shoigu and the head of the Pentagon are the second since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine. The previous ones were in May, the subject of the discussion then was the same – urgent issues of international security, including the situation regarding Ukraine,” it was reported. The Kremlin refused to comment, but the website of the US Department of Defense states that during the conversation with Shoigu, Austin emphasized the “importance of maintaining communication lines”.
After the conversation with Shoigu, Austin spoke with his counterpart in Ukraine, the Pentagon said. It was also reported that following the conversation, the American and Ukrainian ministers promised to maintain close contact in the future. The Ukrainian Defense Minister referred to the conversation with Austin and said that they discussed strengthening Ukrainian air defense capabilities and the security situation.