Foreign Ministry: Kyiv planned sabotage at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station in advance

The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station by Kiev is a terrorist act, the Ukrainian authorities planned sabotage in advance. This statement was made by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, transmits TASS.

“This is a deliberate sabotage of the Kyiv regime. <...> I emphasize once again: the deliberate, purposeful destruction of civilian infrastructure to cause damage to the civilian population is, of course, a terrorist act,” she stressed.

Zakharova added that the final assessment of what happened will be given by the investigation, which will establish all the circumstances. In addition, she called on the US authorities to respond about their knowledge of the use of American weapons in Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry noted that Kyiv planned the sabotage in advance. According to Zakharova, over the past month, the water level at the Kakhovka reservoir “was artificially raised” from 14 to 17.5 m. On the eve of the attack, Kiev ordered to start additional discharge of water from the Dnieper hydroelectric power station upstream, she said.

The breakthrough of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station occurred on the night of June 6. As a result of the incident, an uncontrolled discharge of water began, the level of which was about 11 m. Earlier, a local emergency regime was introduced in the district, later an emergency regime was introduced throughout the Kherson region. June 7 district administration reportedthat the water level in Novaya Kakhovka after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station began to decline.

After the incident, the Russian and Ukrainian sides were accused of undermining each other. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Kyiv committed a deliberate sabotage, and emphasizedthat the Russian side denies accusations that it is allegedly involved in this incident.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu named happened “another terrorist crime” of Ukraine and noted that the incident would have severe and long-term consequences for the environment.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the country will convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council because of the situation around the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. Similar actions will undertake Russia.