If Russian troops blow up the Kakhovskaya HPP, the temporarily occupied Crimea will remain without water supply for 10-15 years, or maybe forever, said Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the NSDC, in an interview with the British TV channel Sky News, Ukrainian Pravda reports.

Responding to a question that Russia could blow up the blockade site to stop the advance of Ukrainian troops in the direction of Kherson, Danilov said:

“We will have to wait and see, but if they blow it up, the idea of ​​water supply to Crimea will disappear for 10-15 years, or maybe forever. Then the question arises, why do they need Crimea, if they will leave it without water.”

Earlier, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said, according to Reuters, that Russia would slow down the advance of Ukrainian troops in the south of the country for only two weeks if it blew up the huge Kakhov dam.

However, he warned, such actions would lead to the flooding of territory occupied by Moscow and lead to the loss of a vital water channel to Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014.

These statements came after President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said last week that the Russians had mined the Kakhovskaya dam and facilities of the Kakhovskaya HPP (HPP) in the Kherson region and were planning to carry out a “false flag” terrorist attack.

The Zaporizhzhia NPP depends on the dam

Ukraine blocked Crimea’s supply of fresh water through the North Crimean Canal after Russia seized the peninsula in 2014. After Russian forces seized new parts of southern Ukraine earlier this year, they immediately restored the supply of water from the reservoir through the canal.

Only a partial destruction of the dam will still make it difficult for Ukraine to advance, will lead to a partial discharge of water, but will preserve water supply through the North Crimean Canal, Budanov said.

Budanov stated that the detonation of the dam will destroy “the possibility of existence of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, because this object is inextricably linked with it.”