Norwegian seismologists confirm explosions at Ukrainian hydroelectric power station caused by Russians

The Norwegian institute NORSAR has analyzed seismic signals from regional stations due to the Kakhovka dam collapse in Ukraine on June 6. According to the research, the data from the stations show clear signals on Tuesday, June 6 at 2:54 local time.

“Time and location coincide with reports in the media about the collapse of the Kakhovka dam. The signals indicate that there was an explosion. The magnitude estimate is between 1 and 2,” the institute said in a statement.

Also today, the Security Service of Ukraine shared an intercepted conversation between Russian military personnel confirming the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant by Russian troops.

“It’s not them [Ukrainians] who hit it. It was our sabotage group. They wanted to scare with this dam. It went not as planned, but more than they planned” a russian military serviceman says.

Kakhovka HPP has been under occupation since February 24, 2022. Nevertheless, during a meeting of the European Council on October 20, 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the dam of the reservoir was probably mined, and the consequences of its destruction would be disastrous.

As a reminder, on June 6, at approximately 2:50 a.m., Russian occupation forces carried out a terrorist attack on the territory of the Kakhovka dam leading to its complete destruction and flooding of a large number of settlements both in Ukrainian-controlled and Russian-occupied territories.

The destruction of the Kakhovka HPP could also lead to a critical situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which, in case of a critical drop in the reservoir, would not be able to take water to cool its reactors.

As a result of the HPP explosion, 3,624 houses are under water; 46 settlements are flooded and 17 settlements making up about 16,000 people are likely to be displaced; 10,000 hectares of land will be covered with water; 333 species of plants and animals are under threat of extinction; 150 tons of oil are already in the waters of the Dnipro River; 2,352 people and 550 animals have been evacuated from the flooded parts of the region.