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The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

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Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Russians are trying to stop the counter offensive. This move will free up troops to defend Melitopol. Capturing that city effectively blocks land supply route to Crimea.

Wouldn’t Melitopol be harder to defend though? Looks to me that the huge accumulation lake upstream of the dam should drain in a few days, so a crossing by the Ukrainian forces should be much easier.

That will be meters deep mud with steep banks I guess, completely open to enemy fire. Not crossable.

Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#142
post #115

Edit: sorry, it is definitely not the same dam, as seen by comparing it to https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1665907533469581313 (NOT) Video of the actual explosion: https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1665954209156460544/pu/...

This is an old video from November last year (when ruscists retreated from Kherson).

Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#143
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- settlements on river banks will be swept away - the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, ZNPP, won't be restarted due to lack of cooling - Crimea will lost access to fresh water - First line of defence for both sides are swept away. - it will be harder for Ukraine side to mount an amphibious assault So it's a lose-lose situation for everyone.

It will also make it easier for Ukraine to attack upstream when the reservoir is empty. In places where there are virtually no Russian defenses. So that's a win for Ukraine.

First, the reservoir won't empty completely. Second, if it were there will be meters of mud on the bottom of it. It's possibly more impassable when empty.

Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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that one is 150 million kilometers away, and we have an atmosphere for our protection.

Yet, you cannot look at it with the naked eye for more than a second & it scorches large areas of Earth leaving only dry desert sand.

Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#145
post #14

Is this a deliberate flooding to stop troops? Like the dutch did: https://neverwasmag.com/2016/07/how-the-dutch-would-flood-th...

No, it's a scorched earth tactic, in preparation to abandoning Crimea. Without this dam, Crimea will be without water for at least next 3 to 5 years after Ukraine recaptures it.

This is tactical, not terroristic. Flooded rivers and drained reservoirs are harder for armies to cross than developed riverside real estate.

This eliminates the Dnipro as an invasion route and allows Russia to concentrate on defending the north.

Putin may not care much about Crimean civilians but he's not going to go through all this trouble just to make them suffer.

Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- settlements on river banks will be swept away - the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, ZNPP, won't be restarted due to lack of cooling - Crimea will lost access to fresh water - First line of defence for both sides are swept away. - it will be harder for Ukraine side to mount an amphibious assault So it's a lose-lose situation for everyone.

I'm kinda happy for that power plant not to be restarted though. It's much better for it to be in a shutdown state if it finds itself in the middle of combat again. I know Ukraine needed the power but it getting damaged could cause problems far beyond Ukraine. One Chernobyl was enough. But I hope it has enough cooling water to cool its storage reservoirs. All the other effects are terrible of course :( And all favour…

It was in shutdown state ever since it was taken by Russia and there were no plans to restart it until the end of the conflict.

Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#147
post #14

Is this a deliberate flooding to stop troops? Like the dutch did: https://neverwasmag.com/2016/07/how-the-dutch-would-flood-th...

No, it's a scorched earth tactic, in preparation to abandoning Crimea. Without this dam, Crimea will be without water for at least next 3 to 5 years after Ukraine recaptures it.

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Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#148
post #22
post #17

The terrain is higher on the NW side... This seems like a really strange move given their defensive positions. (old link with color topo and some color commentary) https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/yansa7/...

Ukraine just started counterattack so this effectively blocks attack through Kherson region.

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Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t Melitopol be harder to defend though? Looks to me that the huge accumulation lake upstream of the dam should drain in a few days, so a crossing by the Ukrainian forces should be much easier.

That will be meters deep mud with steep banks I guess, completely open to enemy fire. Not crossable.

The benefit near the flood will be in weeks to months.

That is if Ukrainian forces were concentrated elsewhere based on a plan to burst the dam.

If they win on other fronts they can turn attention south by that time Crimea will have not had fresh water for months and the forces will be depleted and demoralised.

This could be a major factor in the new offensive. But will require careful planning (if that didn't happen already).

Re: The Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam in Ukraine has been blown open

#150

[flagged]

> You can be an achieved software developer, civil engineer or doctor - doesn't mean you're not an idiot. Whatever you are doesn't make you some genius either. We're all just people. Trying to understand an incredibly complicated situation doesn't make someone stupid.

Russian state media openly publishes articles that Ukraine should cease to exist, and Ukrainians should be erased as a nation with the descriptions of eradication of all the Ukrainian government supporters (almost everyone according to them) and mandatory civilian suffering through the hardships of war and post-war rebuilding to redeem themselves for betraying Russia.

It's a direct description of genocide they aren't shy to openly talk about. And yet the situation is still somehow very complicated to understand.

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