russia blowing up Kakhovka dam will delay Ukraine’s Kherson counterattack for two weeks – UA intelligence chief

If russia blows up the Kakhovka Dam, it will delay the Ukrainian Armed Forces for two weeks. Still, the North Crimean Canal and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant will not be able to function due to the water spill.

The Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, stated this in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.

"It (the Kakhovka dam – ed.) is partially mined, it's true… I'll say this: blowing up this dam will cause an environmental disaster, that's a fact. There are just other aspects. First: why do it? What will they lose, and what will they gain? And the second: it is possible to blow up the dam partially or completely. For blowing it up completely, russians didn't carry out such works," said Budanov.

He clarified that mining was done partly for partial destruction, if necessary. To destroy a structure of this level, tens of tons of explosives, correctly placed, are needed.

"You can't put KaMAZ [with explosives] somewhere nearby. It won't help," the head of Ukrainian intelligence believes.

According to Budanov, the russian invaders will lose more than they will gain from blowing up the dam in the Kherson region.

After all, if you destroy the dam by launching many rockets or planting many explosives, the left bank of the Kherson region will be completely flooded.

"They will theoretically lose the possibility of supplying water to the North Crimean Canal, to Crimea, until we rebuild the dam, which will take a very long time. It will be unrealistic to do it. And the most interesting thing is that they will destroy the possibility for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to exist because this area of the object is inextricably linked with it. Of course, they will make it difficult for us to advance for a certain period. And this, by the way, is not a very long time. It will be somewhere around two weeks," said Budanov.

He clarified that russian troops would be forced to retreat directly to Crimea. Budanov believes that the russian federation will not agree to this. "So I don't think that they planned complete destruction. In addition, we do not see signs of complete mining of this structure. The dam is partially mined. But it must also be understood that it was mined back in April," he added.