The NYT spoke about the “most likely” reason for the breakthrough of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station

The most probable cause of the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station in the Kherson region was a deliberate explosion from within. On this subject writing The New York Times, citing engineers and bombing experts interviewed.

The publication’s interlocutors did not rule out that the destruction of the structure or an attack from the outside could lead to a breakthrough, but called these options “less plausible”.

According to experts, even to undermine such a massive reinforced concrete structure from the inside, hundreds of kilograms of explosives will be needed. To achieve a similar effect from the external explosion of a bomb or rocket, several times as many explosives are needed, explained experts interviewed by the NYT.

Since the start of hostilities in Ukraine, the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station has been the target of repeated fire, but it is not known whether this damage was enough to destroy the dam, writes the newspaper.

Gregory Bacher, an engineering professor at the University of Maryland and a member of the National Academy of Engineering who has studied dam failures, called the destruction of the hydroelectric dam due to dilapidation and past damage “in principle possible. ‘, but noted that he ‘seems suspicious’.

According to the NYT, since the beginning of May, water rose above the gates of the dam and began to overflow its edge. If the cause of the dam failure was high water flows, the destruction would begin along the edges of the dam on both banks, Bacher noted. However, photographs and videos show that the Kakhovka dam was breached in the middle. According to the professor, damaged sluices and high water levels could have demolished several valves, but not destroyed such an important part of the dam.

The dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station collapsed on the night of June 6. The Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov called the breach of the dam a “deliberate sabotage of the Ukrainian side”. What happened in the Russian Foreign Ministry called a terrorist attack planned by Ukraine as part of a counter-offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the dam failure which he said “undermined and blew up” the hydroelectric plant.

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