The Khakhovka dam was blown up by Russian forces to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing in the southern Kherson region, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Sunday.
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam from inside its associated hydroelectric power station. The site has been under Russian occupation since the early weeks of Russia’s invasion in February last year.
Moscow has blamed the destruction of the dam on Ukraine. Each side has accused the other of shelling civilians as rescue efforts are carried out.
“The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was apparently carried out with the intention of preventing the Ukrainian Defence Forces from launching an offensive in the Kherson sector,” Ms Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app.
She said the action, which unleashed a vast flood which inundated towns and villages, trapped residents and swept away entire houses, was also aimed at helping allow the deployment of Russian reserves to the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut areas.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that counteroffensive and defensive operations were taking place in Ukraine.
He gave no details. A military spokesman has said that counterattacking Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1,400 metres at a number of sections of the front line near the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that Ukraine had made unsuccessful attempt to attack a vessel of Russia’s Black sea fleet which was protecting natural gas pipelines.
The ship was monitoring the situation along Turkstream and Blue Stream pipelines route in the Black Sea, the ministry said.
Russia’s defence ministry also said on Sunday that Russian forces had shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet in Kherson region.
Elsewhere, a US citizen has been detained in Russia on charges of organising a drug trafficking operation, a Moscow court said on Saturday.
“On June 10, 2023, Moscow’s Khamovniki District Court took a measure of restraint against a US citizen,” according to a statement on the Telegram messaging app by Moscow’s courts of general jurisdiction.
“The former paratrooper and a musician, who is accused of running a drug dealing business involving young people, will remain in custody until Aug. 6, 2023.”
Russia's Interfax news agency reported that if found guilty, the man can face up to 12 years in prison.
Two drones crashed early on Sunday in Russia’s Kaluga region, the governor of the region said on the Telegram messaging app.
One drone crashed near the village of Strelkovka, another in the woods in the Medynsky municipal district.
The Kaluga region borders the Moscow region to the north. – Reuters