General: Ukraine foresaw Kakhovka HPP blast

The Ukrainian military command foresaw the possibility that the Russians might blow up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, Ukrainian Armed Forces United Forces Commander Sergei Naev said.

He added that the situation should not hinder Ukraine’s counterattack, RBC-Ukraine reports.

"As for the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant [HPP], the military command foresaw enemy actions in advance, including actions to undermine the HPP," he said.

According to him, there are relevant calculations, known to the military command with regard to the damage that may occur as a result of the water spill.

Thus, the relevant command in this direction takes measures primarily for the safety of the civilian population in conjunction with the heads of state authorities on the ground.

“The military command fully considered such enemy insidious actions on the obstruction of our offensive actions and accordingly it should not damage our offensive in those directions where there may be water spill," Naev stressed.

Ukraine's Operational Command South said on June 6 that Russian forces had blown up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the River Dnipro.

"Russian occupying troops have blown up the [dam of the] Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. The scale of destruction, speed and volumes of water, as well as likely areas to be flooded, are being established. All the services are working. The situation is being monitored," the command said on Facebook on June 6.

The head of the Kherson regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, warned that the water "will reach a critical level in five hours" and called on the residents of the region's population centres in the eastern bank to "immediately leave to save your lives".

Dozens of population centres in both Ukrainian- and Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson Region may be affected by flooding.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) over the blowing up of the dam.