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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

#11
This article currently has much more information (as of the time of posting)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/jun/06/russia-uk... ("Russia-Ukraine war live: dam near Kherson destroyed by Russian forces, says Ukraine, sparking evacuations")

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

#12
post #8

So: 1. What side does this help? 2. How does this action help that side?

Benefits the Russians who have been dealing with a Ukranian counter-offensive, and commentators have been wondering if Ukraine would attempt to cross the Dnipro and mount a counter-offensive to cut Crimea off from the mainland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tRYWbVD5AE is a great visualization of why that task is basically impossible now.

Scorched earth retreats are also a time-honored Soviet and Russian military strategy.

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

#13
post #8

So: 1. What side does this help? 2. How does this action help that side?

  - 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.

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

#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.

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

#16
Looks historically unprecedented (?). This is a run-of-the-river type dam (relatively small elevation drop between upstream and downstream), but one with an enormous reservoir, with a volume (1.8e10 m³ nominal) larger than e.g. Banqiao (4.9e8 m³) or Mosul (1.1e10 m³). It is/was #48 on Wikipedia's ranking of world's largest water reservoirs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakhovka_Hydroelectric_Power_P...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banqiao_Dam

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul_Dam

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reservoirs_by_volume

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

#18
The effect/kinetic energy of the water involved would be comparable to that released by a nuclear explosion.

Total madness.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/nova-kakhovka-...

"The reservoir it contains holds an estimated 18 cubic kilometres of water, about the same volume as the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Bursting the dam could send a wall of water flooding settlements below it, including Kherson, which Ukrainian forces recaptured in late 2022"

In 1941 the retreating Red Army blew a different dam, the Dnieper/Dnipro dam, up to a hundred thousand people died on that occasion...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnieper_Hydroelectric_Station#...

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

#20
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.

If you have a credible source that goes into detail on that, I'd appreciate it.
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