Ukraine says Kahkovka dam destruction won't derail counteroffensive


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The failure early Tuesday of the Russian-controlled Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam caused devastating flooding on both sides of Ukraine's Dnipro River, prompting the evacuation of thousands of civilians and killing most of the animals at Nova Kakhovka's zoo. Ukraine and Russia each blamed each other for destroying the dam, and Western governments said they didn't yet have enough information to definitively assess the cause of the dam's collapse, though Russia had more motive.
The dam "was mined by the Russian occupiers," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "And they blew it up." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that the damage was "a deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side," in part to deprive Russia-occupied Crimea of water.
Civil engineers and explosives experts told The New York Times an internal explosion in the dam's engine rooms was the likeliest explanation for the destruction of the massive steel-reinforced concrete dam. An external bomb or missile strike probably wouldn't have been enough to breach the structure.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The explosion came from within, so it had to be done by someone who had control over the territory, and those are the Russians," Ukrainian lawmaker Inna Sovsun told CNN. "It is part of the plan to suspend the counteroffensive. Whether it will be successful or not, I think the coming days will show." A European diplomat told CNN that any offensive operations Ukraine had "planned downstream from the dam probably has to be replanned."
Ukraine acknowledged that the flooding dislodged Ukrainian positions on the west bank of the Dnipro and limited its options for retaking Russian-occupied eastern Kherson Oblast, but Zelenskyy said the "detonation of the dam did not affect Ukraine's ability to de-occupy its own territories." He added that the "chaotic" manner of the dam's destruction also caught Russian troops off-guard, flooding their east-bank positions and washing away their military equipment.
Russia destroyed the dam "to make it impossible for the Ukrainian armed forces to advance in the future," but "no one on the Russian side was able to get away," Ukrainian Capt. Andrei Pidlisnyi told CNN, saying his troops saw Russian soldiers being swept away in the floodwaters and killed in the chaos.
"The flood washes away Russian defenses there but makes a river crossing now exceedingly more difficult" for Ukraine, Russia military analyst Michael Kofman told The Washington Post. Whoever was responsible, he told the Times, the disaster "ultimately benefits nobody."
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.
-
All about Zealandia, the Earth’s potential 8th continent
The Explainer The secret continent went undiscovered for over 300 years
By Devika Rao Published
-
A reckoning over looted art
The Explainer Thousands of artifacts in U.S. and European collections were stolen from their countries of origin. Should they be sent back?
By The Week Staff Published
-
A surge in surge pricing
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
Russia's Crimea fleet shipyard on fire after Ukrainian missile strike
Photos and videos showed huge explosions and raging fires at the Sevastopol Shipyard
By Peter Weber Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published