US ready to declassify intelligence that Russia is behind blowing up Kakhovka HPP dam – NBC

This is reported by NBC.

The TV channel, citing information from two US officials and one Western representative, claims that the administration of US President Joe Biden intends to declassify some of the intelligence on the Kremlin's responsibility for the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant explosion in order to share it with allies.

According to one of the sources, the reasons for the order to blow up the dam are still being investigated, but it is likely that this was an attempt to make it difficult for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cross the Dnipro River and to deliberately create a major humanitarian problem.

What is known about the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station

On February 24 of last year, Russian troops took control of the main structure of the North Crimean Canal and the Kakhovka HPP.

The Kakhovka HPP is situated approximately 5 km away from the Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka. The Kakhovka reservoir serves as the water source for the North Crimean Canal, which has been reopened by Russian troops since the start of the invasion. The canal's water intake is conducted at the Kakhovka reservoir.

This hydroelectric power plant is the lower and last (sixth) stage in the Dnipro reservoir cascade. The hydroelectric power plant near Nova Kakhovka ensures the annual regulation of the Dnipro river flow to ensure that the southern part of Ukraine has power and water.

On October 20, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was preparing to stage a new large-scale terrorist attack - to blow up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in Kherson region. At the same time, he listed other consequences that could result from the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP and its dam:

• hundreds of thousands of residents in southern Ukraine are currently at risk within the danger zone and may face severe consequences as a result of the intentionally provoked flood.
• water supply to a large part of southern Ukraine and Crimea may be disrupted
• the Russian terrorist attack could potentially deprive the ZNPP of the essential water supply needed for cooling, given that the ZNPP relies on water sourced from the Kakhovka reservoir 
• the overall destructive environmental, humanitarian, and man-made consequences of such a terrorist attack would reach the scale of a "historical catastrophe"

Later, in response to Russia's preparations for a terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, Halyna Luhova, the head of the Kherson City Military Administration, directly addressed the people of Kherson. In order to ensure preparedness for a potential dam explosion at the reservoir, she released a detailed action plan outlining the necessary steps to be taken. 

• On Tuesday, June 6, 2023, the Russian occupation forces blew up the Kakhovka HPP, completely destroying it. Evacuation of residents from dangerous areas of Kherson region began, and the President of Ukraine convened an emergency meeting of the Security and Defense Council as 80 towns and villages are at risk of flooding.

• Natalia Humeniuk, head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces, believes that Russia is trying to play another man-made blackmail card to put pressure on Ukraine.