Zelenskyy warns Russians plan to blow up dam in Kherson region
By German Press Agency
KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is planning to blow up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in the Kherson region where Ukrainian troops are making advances.
“Russia is deliberately creating the basis for a large-scale disaster in the south of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a video address at the EU summit on Thursday.
Kyiv had information that Moscow had mined the site and was planning a false-flag attack, he said.
Should the power plant be blown up, there would be massive flooding that could affect the city of Kherson, for example, Zelenskyy warned. Hundreds of thousands of people could be affected.
The Russian army has been moving people out of the Kherson area for days, which Moscow officially justifies as due to a likely imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive. Thousands of civilians are already said to be in other occupied areas of Ukraine or Russia.
The Russian army is increasingly using missiles and Iranian-made drones to hit Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including electricity and water supplies.
Facing such drone strikes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid about air defence systems.
“I spoke to Israeli Prime Minister [Yair Lapid] and informed him on unspeakable suffering, loss of life, and destruction caused by Russian missiles and Iranian-made drones,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Thursday evening.
“We discussed in detail Ukraine’s request for Israel to provide air and missile defense systems and technology.”
Despite the Iranian-designed combat drone attacks, Israel continues to rule out such arms deliveries, but says it is willing to send humanitarian aid.
In addition, Israel could help Ukraine set up an early warning system that could save lives, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz told ambassadors from EU countries this week.
Israel has largely kept a low profile in Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has been ongoing for almost eight months, so as not to jeopardize its relations with Moscow.
Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai recently demanded that in view of the Iranian deliveries to Russia, Israel should take a bolder stance and supply Ukraine with weapons.
The Iranian drone attacks have damaged as much as 40% of Ukraine’s power infrastructure, raising concerns that Ukrainians will not be able to keep warm as the winter approaches.
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) plans to help displaced people and those in war-damaged homes in Ukraine.
“We have converted 390 public buildings in Ukraine so that there are now 109,000 places to sleep,” U.N. Deputy Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements told dpa in Berlin. These are mostly schools or gymnasiums.
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Moldova also need further support in caring for Ukrainian refugees, continued Clements.
Meanwhile, Friday’s daily British intelligence update has dismissed a joint military unit launched by Russia and Belarus as primarily a red herring.
“The announcement is likely an attempt to demonstrate Russian-Belarusian solidarity and to convince Ukraine to divert forces to guard the northern border,” the British Ministry of Defence tweeted. “Russia is unlikely to be able to generate combat-ready formations of the claimed size: its forces are committed in Ukraine. The Belarussian military highly likely maintains minimal capability to undertake complex operations.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko announced the formation of a joint military unit almost a fortnight ago. Most recently, it was said that Russia would send up to 9,000 soldiers as well as hundreds of units of equipment to Belarus for this purpose.