The United States government has information that incriminates Russia the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in UkraineThis was reported by NBC News on Tuesday, citing two American and one Western official, Reuters reports.

NBC News reports that President Joe Biden’s administration was trying to declassify some of the information it had as of Tuesday afternoon.

A flood of water broke through a huge dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, flooding part of the war zone and forcing villagers to flee the waterway. Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the dam in Novaya Kakhovka, and the Kremlin said that it was Ukraine that sabotaged the dam.

Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the dam in Novaya Kakhovka, and the Kremlin said that it was Ukraine that sabotaged the dam.

The White House said on Tuesday that it could not definitively say what caused the collapse of the Novaya Kakhovka dam in Ukraine, but was evaluating reports that the explosion was caused by Russia, which has controlled the dam since last year.

Spokesman John Kirby said it was clear that the collapse of a dam on the Dnipro River, which separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine, likely caused “many deaths” and the evacuation of thousands of Ukrainians.

Kirby told reporters that the damage could also have a devastating impact on Ukraine’s energy security.

Computer simulations show how the failure of a dam in the upper reaches of the Dnipro River creates the risk of massive flooding along its banks to its mouth in the Black Sea.

They were carried out last year in the context of the fact that last November Russia and Ukraine began to accuse each other of plans to destroy a dam built on the Dnieper, the fourth largest in Europe.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy then stated that the dam holds about 18 million cubic meters of water, and if it is blown up, it will quickly flood 80 settlements, including Kherson.

What does Shoigu say about the destruction of the dam in Nova Kakhovka

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday accused Ukraine of undermining the huge Kakhovka Dam as part of a plan to transfer units from neighboring Kherson Oblast to conduct operations against Russian forces, Reuters reported.

A Russian Defense Ministry statement, signed by Shoigu, said that the destruction of the dam and the resulting flooding were aimed at preventing a Russian attack in the Kherson area, allowing Ukraine to “transfer parts and equipment from the Kherson front to the area of ​​hostilities. “.

Shoigu did not provide evidence to support his statement. Ukraine and its Western allies say Russia blew up the dam early Tuesday.

Ukraine is investigating the dam explosion as a war crime and possible “ecocide,” the country’s attorney general’s office said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Ukraine says Russia blew up dam ‘in moment of panic’

Ukrainian military intelligence said Russian forces blew up the Kakhovskaya Dam in a Russian-controlled area of ​​southern Ukraine “at a moment of panic.”

“The occupiers in a panic blew up the Kakhovskaya Dam – this is an obvious act of terrorism and a war crime that will be evidence in an international court,” says the message published on the Telegram channel of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine.

Ukraine is one of the few states, including Russia, that have criminalized “ecocide” in domestic legislation.

Kyiv defines ecocide as “mass destruction of flora and fauna, poisoning of atmospheric air or water resources, as well as any other actions that may cause environmental disaster” in Article 441 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

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