Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hana Malyar said today, Sunday, that Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka dam to prevent the advance of Ukrainian troops into the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine has accused Russian troops of blowing up the dam from inside an attached hydroelectric power station. The site has been under Moscow’s control since the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February.
Moscow blamed Ukraine for the dam explosion. The parties exchange accusations of bombing civilians during rescue operations carried out after the dam explosion.
“It seems that the explosion of the hydroelectric power station in Kakhovka occurred in order to prevent the Defense Forces of Ukraine from launching an offensive in the Kherson direction,” Malyar said in Telegram.
She added that the bombardment, which caused widespread flooding that flooded towns and villages, trapping residents and swept away entire houses, was also intended to provide an opportunity for the deployment of Russian reserve forces in the Zaporozhye and Bakhmut regions.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that counter-offensive and defensive operations were underway in Ukraine, but did not provide details.
The military spokesman said that Ukrainian forces, which are launching a counterattack against Russian troops, have advanced up to 1,400 meters in a number of frontline areas near the town of Bakhmut in the east of the country.
Today, Sunday, the Ground Forces of Ukraine announced that the fighters of one of the brigades had liberated Blagodatny settlement in the Donetsk region.
The agency did not provide details, but a video clip released shows several Ukrainian soldiers raising their country’s flag from a window in a badly damaged building.
“The invaders resisted to the end, but could not withstand the onslaught of brave fighters,” the security forces said in a Facebook post.
