The city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, still occupied by the Russian army despite a push from the Ukrainian army, was “without electricity or water” on Sunday and the Kakhovka dam was “damaged”, after two strikes attributed to kyiv by the regional Russian occupation authorities.
“As a result of a terrorist attack, organized by the Ukrainian side, three concrete pylons carrying high-voltage lines were damaged on the Berislav-Kakhovka axis,” the Russian occupation administration said in a statement. on Telegram.
“Currently, there is no electricity or water in the city and in some districts of the region”, annexed by Moscow at the end of September, she added.
This is the first power and water cut of known magnitude in Kherson, one in the hands of the Russian army since the beginning of its offensive in Ukraine.
According to a representative of the emergency services of the Kherson region, quoted by Russian news agencies, “more than 10 localities in the region are (currently) without power”.
Kherson, the main Ukrainian city taken by Russian forces since February, is today transformed into a “fortress” by them in the face of Ukrainian troops who have been approaching for several weeks.
The Ukrainian military had hitherto only very rarely touched the civilian energy infrastructures which the Russians seized in the annexed territories, aiming instead at the supply lines of the Russian army.
Russia, for its part, has destroyed about 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which has led to widespread power and water cuts in many places, including the capital kyiv.
“No critical damage” in Kakhovka
Earlier Sunday, the Kakhovka dam, located 60 km as the crow flies from Kherson and under Russian control, was meanwhile hit by another Ukrainian bombardment, according to the Russian occupation authorities.
“Today at 10 a.m. (8 a.m. GMT), six Himars missiles were fired. Air defense units shot down five (and) one hit the sluice of the Kakhovka dam, which was damaged,” a representative of the emergency services of the Kherson region assured, quoted by the agencies of Russian press.
The Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, built along the Dnieper, notably supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014 by Moscow.
“Everything is under control”, quickly declared the representative of the administration installed by Moscow of Nova Kakhovka, the village where this work is located.
“A missile hit [le site]but did not cause critical damage,” said Ruslan Agaev, quoted by Russian news agencies.
The Himars, American precision artillery systems, have been used since July in Ukraine after the United States delivered them to kyiv, notably allowing the Ukrainian army to carry out more precise strikes than with Soviet weapons. she had before.
The risk of strikes on this strategic installation has been brandished since October by the Ukrainians and the Russians, who accuse each other of endangering the lives of “thousands” of inhabitants in this part of the region where kyiv troops have been advancing since september.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow two weeks ago of having “undermined the dam”, one of the largest in Ukraine. “Lies”, reacted the Russian occupation authorities.
Over the past three days, the Russian occupation authorities have carried out “evacuations” of civilians in the villages around the site in the face of a “possible missile attack” on the dam, the destruction of which would lead to “the flooding of the left bank of the Dnieper, according to local authorities.
kyiv has on several occasions condemned these “deportations” of inhabitants of the region to territories less exposed to fighting, even to Russia itself.