According to US intelligence authorities, Russian will be responsible for the explosions at a significant dam and hydroelectric facility in southern Ukraine that resulted in a catastrophic flood.
Given that the White House today stated that it cannot declare conclusively what caused the devastation, sources claim Joe Biden’s Administration possesses intelligence demonstrating Moscow was to blame for the calamity.
Russian Involvement Suspected in Catastrophic Flood
According to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, authorities are ‘doing the best we can to assess’ claims that the incident was caused by Putin’s troops, who have been occupying the dam since last year.
The Ukrainian government estimates that the floodwaters have put up to 40,000 people in danger.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, up to 70 communities along the Dnipro are in danger.
Flood waters are predicted to reach their peak on Wednesday. Video from Kherson shows rooftops floating down the river and other homes partially submerged.
Sadly, according to the zoo’s management, the majority of the animals at a zoo in the occupied Russian hamlet of Nova Kakhovka have drowned.
Russian shelling could be heard nearby even as rescue efforts went on, serving as a somber reminder that a major ecological calamity is taking place while a war is being waged.
Read more: California Issues A Flood Warning As Snowmelt Feeds The American River
Destruction to Escalating Counteroffensive
Analysts in Ukraine have connected the suspected demolition of the Russian dam to the eagerly expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, which may already be underway.
According to Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at the government-funded National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Russians destroyed the dam over the Oskil reservoir during the Kharkiv counteroffensive operation, which the Ukrainian military used to retake thousands of square miles of territory in September.
The dam, which was originally constructed by the Soviets in 1956, was blown up, and the Ukrainian government was quick to assign blame to Russian occupants.
Oleksii Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security Council, claimed that Russia’s 205th Motorized Rifle Brigade was responsible for the sabotage, implying that Kyiv had specific intelligence supporting that assertion.
Plans to mine and destroy the structure were described in a Telegram group in October 2022 that allegedly belonged to a 205th member. The channel also included instructions for nearby people in the event of “dam failure.”
Eyewitnesses who heard huge explosions at the dam and believe they were caused by heavy explosives have also come forward.
Read more: Storm Shadow: Britain Has Supplied Ukraine With Long-Range Cruise Missiles
