More than a day after the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed and a huge body of water leaked, it’s still unclear what exactly happened. However, the consequence is clear. Dozens of villages and towns have been flooded, and even the big city of Kherson has to contend with water. But there are different stories about the cause of the dam breaking. These are those scenarios.
It is just before three in the morning on Tuesday 6 June when the dam suddenly breaks. A mass of water of 18 cubic kilometers, equal to 18 trillion liters, then rushes into the area behind the dam. Despite reports circulating immediately that the dam has been breached, the mayor of the Russian-owned town of Nova Kakhovka, where the dam is located, denies that the dam has been destroyed. There are not even images of the conscious moment. A few hours later, Russian news agencies confirmed the news. Finger pointing begins immediately when the breakthrough images appear.
The Russian script
Logically, Russia immediately points to Ukraine as the author of the destruction of the dam. According to the Russians, Ukraine blew up the dam to “punish” the inhabitants of Crimea, says Russian representative to the UN Security Council Vasily Nebenzha. The dam supplies, via a canal, 85% of the water supply to the peninsula. The water is mostly used for industry and agriculture, but a fifth of the water is also used for drinking water.
Another story comes from the Russian governor for the Kherson region of Ukraine Vladimir Saldo. He claims Ukraine blew up the dam to create a distraction for what he believes was a “failed” Ukrainian counteroffensive. That counter-offensive would have already begun in the previous days. That story is shared by Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, who also cites the story that Ukraine wants to cut off water supplies to Crimea. “We can say unequivocally that we are talking about deliberate sabotage from the Ukrainian side.”
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However, according to Peter Wijninga, a defense specialist at the Center for Strategic Studies in The Hague, this scenario would not make sense from a Ukrainian point of view. “It’s an additional headache for the Zelensky government,” because the focus was mainly on the offensive. “Now there is such a big disaster, that means their attention has to go there, when they really wanted to focus on the offensive.”
Facts about the Kakhovka dam
- The dam is thirty meters high and 3.2 kilometers long
- The dam was built in 1956 in the Dnieper River as part of a hydroelectric power plant.
- The reservoir is the main source of water for the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014.
- The dam’s water is also an important reservoir for cooling the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant
- In total, the dam holds back 18 cubic kilometers of water, eight times the size of the IJsselmeer
- The dam’s destruction also spilled 150 tons of oil into the Dnieper River.
The Ukrainian scenario
Where Russia points to Ukraine, Ukraine naturally points the other way. Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said it would be “physically impossible” to blow the dam from the outside. He then claims that the Russians sabotaged and blew up the dam from the inside. “They blew it up,” he says on social media. Furthermore, he calls the dam’s destruction a “bomb of environmental mass destruction” that “blew up Russia.”
That it’s obvious that the dam was destroyed from within is also obvious according to the experts the New York Times spoke to. They said cautiously that an “internal explosion” was “the most likely cause” of the dam breaking. That story would also be supported by residents near the dam, who heard a large explosion at around 2.50am.
Late last year, Ukraine also warned that Russia was planning to destroy the dam. Furthermore, Ukraine has declared that the infrastructure would be filled with explosives.
Bad maintenance
Another scenario that is circulating as a cause of dam failure is bad and irresponsible dam maintenance. Previously, the road over the dam had already been closed off by Russia, in order to make it more difficult for any Ukrainian soldiers to arrive. Also, satellite images show that there is damage to the dam just before the dam collapses. For example, parts of the road crossing and locks are visibly damaged.
In the period leading up to the dam’s destruction, the water level was also artificially raised by the Russian occupiers. This would have increased the pressure on the dam. As a result, the dam “progressively collapsed by itself,” writes the independent Russian media Meduza. “Satellite images show that the dam would have flooded a week ago, which indicates that the water was irresponsibly high,” says Wijninga.
Added to this is the damage that had already been done to the dam by Russia. “That could lead to cracks, which ultimately led to the dam collapsing.” According to Wijninga, however, it is clear that Russia is responsible. “If they didn’t blow it up on purpose, it might have been negligence.”
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
