The Russian military blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station on the instructions of Vladimir Putin, the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, has said, Radio Liberty reports.
He noted that the Russians blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station with the explosives they planted in September-October 2022.
"The command for this terrorist act came from the Kremlin, from Putin's office. Such instructions are not given at other levels. This is not the level of a battalion, a division, this is not even the level of a situation related to Shoigu," he said.
Danilov also said that the Russians blew up the dam because they were expecting a Ukrainian counteroffensive. In addition, they raised the water level at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station before the explosion.
"They all expect our counteroffensive. Moreover, they raised the water level as much as possible. It was 18.16 metres, they raised it to more than 19 metres. They deliberately accumulated it to cause more damage during the explosion," he added.
According to a representative of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Andriy Yusov, preliminary findings suggest that the Kakhovka dam was blown up.