Is it even realistic to blow up the dam? | Pravda UA - Oct. 20, 2022 |

Not only Ukraine's Defence Intelligence chief but also the military and local authorities speak cautiously about the possibility of the destruction of such a huge reinforced concrete structure as the Kakhovka Dam.

In favour of its strength, the dam structure is still standing after several missile strikes on the Kakhovka Bridge, launched by Ukrainian forces [so as to make the Russian troops withdraw from the area - ed.], and the bridge is still being used by the occupiers.

"The dam is really built with military actions in mind - it is a capital structure with a margin of safety. It is very difficult to destroy it from the outside, it would probably be necessary to use tactical nuclear weapons to do it. But if there is access to this infrastructure, which is the case with the Russian troops, then it could be undermined from the inside.

The weapons currently used by the Ukrainian military [i.e. destroying bridges and crossings in the occupied territories - UP] are not enough," says Yurii Sobolevsky, Deputy Head of Kherson Oblast Council.

Vasyl Opanasyuk, an explosive ordnance engineer, notes that if 5-6 tonnes of TNT (which fits in one truck) was detonated, it would only create a five-metre large hole in the dam. Water would simply flow through it.

It would take at least ten such trucks to damage the dam seriously. After that, the structure may begin to collapse under the pressure of the water.

[...]

Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, has said that if the hydroelectric power station is blown up, Crimea could be left without water for 10-15 years, possibly forever.

Ukrainian Activists Draw Attention To Little-Known WWII Tragedy | RFERL - Aug. 23, 2013 |

'Sapere aude'