The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was referred to as an act of “mass environmental destruction” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He added that the attack on such vital infrastructure would not change Ukraine’s plans to recapture territory from occupying Russian forces.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the dam was blown up in an effort to “use the flood as a weapon” to hinder Ukrainian forces. He described the explosion that damaged the dam as a purposeful and erratic move by Russia.
Zelenskyy said Moscow destroyed the water supply on the Crimean peninsula because it was resigned to losing control of the Russian-annexed region.
“The fact that Russia deliberately destroyed the Kakhovka reservoir, which is critically important, in particular, for providing water to Crimea, indicates that the Russian occupiers have already realised that they will have to flee Crimea as well,” he said.
Zelenskyy said, “We will still liberate all of our land,” adding that blowing up the dam would not prevent a Russian a loss but would increase the expenses of post-war reparations that Moscow will eventually have to do to Ukraine.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of causing the dam to collapse, claiming that Kyiv destroyed the area to draw attention away from the counteroffensive’s weak start, which Moscow had already thwarted.
In fighting that left tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers dead or injured, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that his country’s forces had stopped the first three days of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. He said that the dam’s destruction was conducted in order to deter the Russian forces from striking.
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SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
