The Nova Kakhovka dam was blown up last night. Wild. Going to be lots of flooding in Kherson oblast. The reservoir is also used to cool the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
Video. Looking at satellite view, it does appear to be the Nova Kakhovka dam:
The Russian blew it up to stop assaults over the river downstream ?
I Can’t imagine why Ukraine would destroy it .
Here’s a link to the previous thread showing an animated map of the area at risk of potential flooding posed by the dam.
(Since Twitter has gone downhill, I can’t post the tweet here directly as it now has an age restriction, although it’s still embedded in the previous thread.)
Most of the flooding will be on Russian occupied land and it’ll cut water to Crimea. Not saying Ukraine did it, but there are reasons they might
Ukrainian light infantry elements have crossed the river opposite Kherson in recent weeks and established a presence on the left bank. There’s also a road on the dam, so it’s a crossing point that is still functionable, unlike the bridge at Kherson. Russia would seem to have the most to gain by blowing the dam.
Thanks , appreciate clarifying what gets flooded.
Not seeing any breaking news about this - big development if true…
I just Googled this phrase and found nothing later than November 2022.
ETA: Twitter has several posts put up within the last hour showing what appears to be a busted dam, water flowing out.
Another flood model:
Local reports:
The Ukrainians say the Russians did it:
If Russia did do it, is it merely to restrict an offensive in that area? Seems a big price to pay since securing water access to Crimea was a big strategic win for them. Attempt to damage post-war Ukraine? Must be pretty worried about the counter offensive.
Reuters posts an article about 10 minutes ago:
Russian state media now also:
Russian state media now saying that the dam “collapsed due to damage”
Sure. Damage caused when Russian troops set the charges.
Some satellite imagery:
One possibility is that the road could have been destroyed a few days ago to prevent vehicle crossing and it has subsequently led to the catastrophic failure of the dam, either deliberately or not. Or the dam may have been deliberately destroyed today.
The dam is split in a couple of places, with a big hole in the middle of a long building, so it seems more likely it would have been a deliberate explosion, or set of explosions, today that destroyed the dam, but I’m not an engineer.
This is purportedly a video taken by a worker at the dam saying that it was structural failure caused by water pressure. Possibly Russian propaganda of course, but the idea is not completely ridiculous. The dam was damaged repeatedly last year and the reservoir level has reportedly been extremely high. Timing is super sus though.
Here’s a wider view: