Russia calls for international probe into Kakhovka HPP’s dam blast

The situation with the collapse of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam should become the subject of a worldwide study and investigation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

"Naturally, this is no longer the topic of the day or the topic of the week, it has already been put into the historical context - I’m talking about what happened yesterday at the Kakhovka HPP. This really should be a subject of worldwide study, research and investigation," TASS reports, citing Zakharova.

"The reaction of the West in all such situations is 100 per cent predictable. It is an endless desire to blame Russia for everything that happens, regardless of whether it actually happened or is a figment of the imagination," the diplomat pointed out. Moreover, the reaction of the West "will always be like this," she added.

The spokeswoman explained that this is part of the information and psychological warfare and "endless linking of all the negative things that happen in the Western countries, outside and on the periphery with our country, in order to maintain the hysterical attitude of their own population towards the situation around Russia, in Russia in general, and so on."

On June 6 night, the Ukrainian military delivered a strike on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), presumably from an Olkha MLRS. The shelling destroyed the hydraulic valves at the dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. In Novaya Kakhovka, the water level has already exceeded 12 meters. There are currently 14 settlements in the flooded area, and a total of about 80 villages may be inundated. Residents of nearby settlements are being evacuated, though authorities have said no large-scale evacuations are necessary. The collapse of the plant's dam has caused serious environmental damage. Farmlands along the Dnieper River have been washed away, and there is a risk that the North Crimean Canal will become shallow.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack on the Kakhovka HPP as a deliberate act of sabotage by Ukraine. He added that the Kyiv regime should bear full responsibility for the consequences.