Russia claims Ukraine hit dam near Kherson with US missiles - The Hill

Russian authorities media connected Sunday claimed Ukraine struck a dam adjacent the strategical metropolis of Kherson with U.S.-made missiles, citing officials successful the region.

Ukraine has not yet commented connected the reports, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously accused Moscow of planting mines astatine the dam for a imaginable “false flag” onslaught that Moscow would blasted connected Ukraine.

RIA Novosti and different authorities media said Ukrainian troops successful the purported onslaught utilized six high-mobility artillery rocket systems, a cardinal strategy the U.S. has supplied to Kyiv arsenic they combat against Russia’s invasion, including 1 rocket that damaged the dam lock.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are not abandoning their attempts to destruct the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric powerfulness presumption and make the prerequisites for a humanitarian catastrophe,” determination authorities told RIA Novosti.

Zelensky and Russian officials person antecedently suggested an detonation astatine the dam, which is located connected the Dnieper River, could origin flooding downstream, including successful Kherson.

“The dam of this hydroelectric powerfulness works holds astir 18 cardinal cubic meters of water,” Zelensky said past month. “If Russian terrorists stroke up this dam, much than 80 settlements, including Kherson, volition beryllium successful the portion of accelerated flooding. Hundreds, hundreds of thousands of radical whitethorn beryllium affected.”

In the aboriginal days of its invasion, Russia rapidly captured Kherson, which is important to Moscow’s aspirations of advancing further westbound toward the large larboard successful Odesa. It remains the lone determination superior Russia has controlled.

Ukrainian forces person been making piecemeal gains successful the portion arsenic portion of a sweeping autumn counteroffensive that included large territorial advances successful the northeast.

Russian forces successful caller days person moved immoderate troops and instrumentality crossed the Dnieper River and retired of Kherson, but Ukrainian officials fishy Russia whitethorn beryllium mounting a trap, creating the illusion of surrender portion simultaneously ramping up reinforcements for a large conflict to come. 

Ukraine’s defence ministry implicit the play accused Russia of destroying “en masse” backstage boats located connected the banks of the Dnieper River successful the region.