Russia Blew Up The Dam And We Have Proof, Says Ukraine as it Publishes New Picture

Ukraine has released images purporting to show a car packed with explosives parked on the Kakhovka Dam before it was bombed, unleashing the river on settlements below, leading to serious flooding.

The Kakhovka Dam was bombed earlier this month, causing the Soviet-era structure holding back the Dnipro/Dnieper, one of Europe’s major rivers to flood downstream. Given the colossal volume of water released fatalities have been mercifully comparatively limited, with the Ukrainian government speaking of 17 killed as a consequence of the attack, and a further 31 missing.

While both sides accused each other of blowing the dam, Ukraine has published a new piece of evidence to favour the Russian hypothesis. Noting the dam and surrounding area was occupied by Russian forces at the time of the blast, “Ukrainian officials” speaking through American wires service the Associated Press says a new photograph showing a parked car packed with explosives on the dam proves the case.

The AP reported: “Images taken from above the Kakhovka Dam and shared with the AP appear to show an explosive-laden car atop the structure, and two officials said Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the dam where the Ukrainians say the explosion that destroyed it was centered.”

The car’s cut-open roof clearly reveals a pair of what appears to be olive-green painted oil drums and a landmine. The photograph, per the report, does not conflict with the original Ukrainian claims that the dam was destroyed by explosives placed inside the dam’s control rooms, is it claimed. Rather, the car with extremely visible explosives was a visual deterrent to an attempt to retake the dam, and was intended to “amplify the planned explosion originating in the machine room”.

As expressed by the AP, these factors coming together means Russia “had the means, motive and opportunity” to bomb the dam.

The claim comes as further revelations about the aftermath of the flooding that followed the blast come to light, with Ukraine reporting 17 known deaths caused by the water — 13 drowned, and four “fatal gunshot wounds during evacuation”. Some 41 settlements are still underwater, the majority in Russian-occupied territory, with 876 houses flooded.

Much of the damage has been to farmland, both directly with areas flooded, and more indirectly with huge areas of upstream fields deprived of irrigation. As reported by Breitbart News, it is claimed restoring the agricultural sector of Ukraine is estimated to be a 20-year endeavour.

Emergency supplies have been rushed to the impacted areas, especially bottled water and food. But the United Nations has complained that Russia is preventing its aid workers getting to flooded areas they occupy, hampering attempts to alleviate suffering after the disaster.