Kiev has launched a long-promised offensive in different sectors of the front in the past three days, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
"Within the past three days, the Ukrainian regime has launched a long-promised offensive in different sectors of the front, concentrating a large amount of equipment and human resources for this purpose," Shoigu said.
He clarified that the Ukrainian forces tried to attack in 7 directions with five brigades on June 5 but were stopped after losing over 1,600 soldiers and 28 tanks.
“On June 5, the Kiev regime attempted an offensive in seven directions with the forces of five brigades. They was stopped, suffered even more significant losses: more than 1,600 military personnel, 28 tanks, including 8 Leopards and 3 AMX-10 wheeled tanks, 136 units of other military equipment, including 79 foreign," Shoigu said.
The minister added that enemy attacks were foiled, while Russian soldiers showed “heroism and courage.”
According to Shoigu, Ukraine failed to reach its goals in the offensive as it suffered “significant and incomparable” losses.
"In total … 71 servicepeople were killed, 210 were injured. 15 tanks, 9 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 vehicles and 9 guns were destroyed," Shoigu said.
Kakhovka Power Plant Destruction Deliberate Sabotage by Ukraine - Kremlin
The upper part of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in Russia's Kherson Region was destroyed by shelling, the reservoir's dam itself was not destroyed, Novaya Kakhovka city mayor Vladimir Leontyev told Sputnik.
A number of Telegram channels early on Tuesday reported that the plant was allegedly completely destroyed. Some published footage of the collapsed dam.
"There were several hits at two o'clock in the morning in the upper part of the hydroelectric power plant, where the flashboards are located, where the valves are, and it was destroyed. The dam was not destroyed, and this is very good," Leontyev said.
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He told Sputnik that the water level after the destruction rose 2.5 meters downstream, adding that emergency services are at the scene.
Leontyev said there is no need yet to evacuate the population, but noted that the local authorities have prepared buses in case they need to rescue people from possible flooding. According to Novaya Kakhovka's mayor, at least 300 homes could be affected by the partial destruction of the HPP.
Kiev's forces have been targeting the dam in Novaya Kakhovka over the past year, as a part of Ukrainian strikes against Russian civilian infrastructure. Among other risks, attacks on the hydroelectric power plant may result in problems in water supplies for Crimea: the peninsula has faced water shortages over the past decade because of a Ukrainian blockade, and the flow was only fully reinstated after the start of Russia's special operation in February 2022.
US & Its HIMARS Provided to 'Criminal' Kiev Regime 'Responsible' for Kakhovka HPP Attack
The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant’s partial destruction as a result of shelling by Ukrainian forces on June 6. A state of emergency has been introduced in the Kherson region city of Novaya Kakhovka, with the Kremlin calling the attack an “act of sabotage.”
The United States, which has supplied weapons systems like HIMARS to the criminal Kiev regime, is responsible for the attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on June 6, Vladimir Evseyev, a military expert, told Sputnik.
There are numerous facts confirming that volleys of shelling by US HIMARS light multiple rocket launchers have been carried out by Ukraine’s forces since 2022, deliberately targeting the Kakhovka HPP. Other systems have also been utilized, but use of American-made ones clearly indicates who is to blame, said the department head at the Institute of CIS Countries. As for the West and its attempt to pin the blame on Russia - this is further proof that it is exclusively "engaged in propaganda based on falsehoods."
This is evidenced by the recent anti-Russian tropes by a spate of officials and by mainstream media headlines in connection with the attack on the Kakhovka HPP. Not a single Russian source was cited in the tabloids amid the media frenzy. Part of the structure of the Kakhovka dam was destroyed as a result of Ukrainian shelling, causing three spans to buckle under water pressure. After multiple senior Ukrainian officials and military figures predictably accused Russia of having “sabotaged” the Kakhovka HPP dam, Western media wasted no time feeding into this frenzied narrative. Official European figures followed suit, appearing to blame Russia.
"I think this is pure propaganda," Vladimir Evseyev stated, adding that it was evident who profited from such an attack and masterminded it.
'Groundwork Laid in Advance'
The Kiev regime and its handlers in the West had several reasons to want to destroy the Kakhovka HPP dam, and the groundwork for the critical situation preceding the events of June 6 was laid well in advance, said Evseyev.
"The West was preparing the Armed Forces of Ukraine for forcing the Dnepr River. The West supplied them with special equipment for crossing [the river], trained personnel, and encouraged them to force a crossing. It was clear that this forcing could not be successful. By compromising the Kakhovka HPP, they close the question of forcing the Dnepr, at least for some time. I believe that this was the main reason for the attack," the military expert said.
Furthermore, for a long time there had been evidence of a massive discharge of water upstream in order to create a critical situation at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station, the site of which had already been damaged during previous strikes and shelling carried out by Ukrainian forces, primarily using US-supplied HIMARS, and targeting the gate valves, Vladimir Evseyev clarified. In other words, a breach might have happened even without things coming to a head as they did on June 6, Evseyev said. He added that in the conditions that were preset by Kiev's actions, parts of the dam might have given way long before.
"All hydro facilities located upstream [along the Dnepr] are controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A conscious discharge of water there could only be with the sanction of the military. Water was dumped deliberately from hydro facilities that the Russian side does not control," Vladimir Evseyev said.
West's Behind-the-Scenes Plotting
There were also other goals pursued by targeting the Kakhovka HPP and its dam, besides those cited above. Flooding triggered by inflicted damage would mainly affect the left bank, which is lower than the right one. "This could be seen as putting pressure on the population that lives on territory controlled by the Russian Federation," said the military expert.
“If we talk about the consequences for Ukraine, then the flooding occurred not only on the left bank, which is lower… There was also flooding along the right bank of the Dnepr. The paradox of this situation is: if the Armed Forces of Ukraine independently made this decision, then at first they would probably have regrouped, removing their personnel from the floodplain. But the decision was made for them. This decision was made at political level, under pressure from the Americans and the British. This speaks to the complete lack of Kiev’s independence,” he added.
Another long-term goal for the enemy would be to lower the water supply reaching the North Crimean Canal at the start of summer. Water from the Kakhovka reservoir irrigates arid regions of the Kherson region and the Crimean Peninsula via the canal. Back in 2014, after the Crimea voted overwhelmingly to reunite with Russia in a referendum, Ukraine shut down the canal, and only Moscow was finally able to solve the water supply problems for the Russian region in March 2022 as part of its ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.
As for the impact for the Zaporozhye NPP cooling system, or the operation of the nuclear power plant in general, the military expert does not think the fallout from the attack on the Kakhovka HPP will affect it at all.
"Firstly, the Zaporozhye NPP is located upstream. Basically, the lowering of the level occurs precisely after the cascade of the Kakhovka HPP, while Zaporozhye NPP is upstream," he stated. The expert clarified that the Zaporozhye plant is shut down, and in this mode it requires less water than it would if it were running.
The military expert weighed in on how the situation at the Kakhovka power plant could affect the course of the Ukraine conflagration. Not only will Kiev's forces be unable to force the Dnepr, but, by fall, will most likely not be ready for any large-scale, much-hyped counteroffensive, Vladimir Evseyev concluded.
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