Dnipro Flooded Russian First Line Of Defence

Russia shot itself by undermining the Kakhovka dam.

Even the waters of the Dnipro River are fighting against the Russians, which the occupiers released with their own hands from the Kakhovka reservoir, explains military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko.

“It’s all illogical and irrational,” this is how Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military and political observer for the Information Resistance Group, assessed the military consequences of the blowing up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by the Russians on the night of June 6.

The actions of the Russian army look logical as a large-scale terrorist attack: the Russians wanted to cause maximum harm to Ukraine and achieved this - almost 80 settlements downstream of the Dnipro River, including Kherson. Thousands of people need to be evacuated from there because of the partial or complete flooding. The functioning of the cooling system of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was also called into question. Ukraine will have to solve further environmental problems for years.

The Dnipro is a big river that separates the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the units of the occupiers in the Kherson region. Large-scale flooding will primarily affect the defensive positions of the forces of the aggressor country.

What military consequences will the terrorist attack of the Russians have? Will it affect the Ukrainian counteroffensive and in what way? NV talked about this with Kovalenko.

– How will the destruction of the dam of the Kakhovka HPP affect the course of hostilities? What tactical steps can this lead to on our part and on the part of the adversary?

– If we are talking, for example, about the influence on the actions of the Ukrainian forces, then there will be nothing critical. And that's why.

When I was asked what scenarios I considered regarding the offensive actions of the Ukrainian defense forces, I never considered the option of carrying out offensive actions with elements of forcing the Dnipro River as the main, prevailing one. That is, I never assigned the main role to the crossing of the Dnipro River. I'm sure the general scenario is a ground operation. If there are elements of the river forcing, then not even of the secondary role, but of the third order. So, the Russian occupiers committed this terrorist act... I think that they acted in panic and chaotically, believing that the Ukrainian defense forces would cross the Dnipro River. Well, they did it without any logic and rational approach to this issue. Therefore, for us in this case, this is primarily an environmental problem, and, in fact, genocide against the civilians. This is a humanitarian problem.

However, the Russian occupiers have the most military problems. The Dnipro River had already flooded their entire first defense line. It was located exactly on the left bank. We can say that it is no more. And this significantly reduces their defensive capabilities. Are the Russians preparing to flee after this from the left bank in the Kherson region? Here they have another problem: because of this, they can create serious problems on the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula. They will suffer from a lack of water there. If they run from the south to the Crimea, then it will be necessary to serve all these tens of thousands of personnel, equipment, and so on. Their water resources will simply be insufficient, and it will be another disaster.

So I can only say one thing: the Russians shot themselves down several times. They significantly weakened their defenses, while not disrupting our counteroffensive. Later, a time bomb was planted on the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula. And, of course, it should be noted legally that dams have always been under the protection of the Geneva Convention as objects inadmissible for destruction. Thus, the Russians committed another war crime, the same with the use of weapons of mass destruction.

– Part of the Russian army on the left bank was in the flood zone. How many forces could there be?

– I can assume that now there are somewhere up to 20,000-25,000 troops in such uncomfortable conditions.

– And when the water recedes, how can this affect our offensive?

– And now the most interesting thing. If the waters come down, then the Russians will not be able to restore the line of defense, at least they will not have the opportunity to do it quickly. And in turn, this will really allow us to force, I do not exclude this. After all, there is no first line of defense, why not force and advance?

– Can the current situation affect the intensity of the shelling of Kherson?

– The Russians use the BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). Indeed, now it will be more difficult for them to carry out all these terrorist attacks. These MRLSs are wheeled vehicles that quickly take up a position, fire quickly and randomly because they do not hit accurately, but for the sake of destruction and murder. And then they rapidly leave their positions, so that our forces have no time to counter and destroy these MLRSs. But now, since there are problems with this area, there will be problems with striking. The Russians will try to continue to terrorize Kherson. But this will already happen a little, let's say, on a different scale, because they will not be able to fully use all the possibilities of maneuver on the ground for shelling.

– What were the Russians generally guided by and what were they counting on when they blew up the dam? Did they understand what they were doing?

– Perhaps someone understood. But I see that they were panicking in general. Are they aware? No, I'm not sure. They are being guided by panic right now. So it's all illogical and irrational.