Zelensky says Russia looking to launch ‘false flag’ attack in southern Ukraine
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Zelensky says Russia looking to launch ‘false flag’ attack in southern Ukraine
Mike Brest October 21, 02:14 PM October 21, 02:14 PMUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia is planning a “false flag” operation to blow up a hydroelectric dam in the southern part of the country that could result in significant flooding.
Zelensky said Thursday that Russian forces have mined the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, which is located in the city of Nova Kakhovka, with the intent of blowing up the dam and blaming Ukraine for the devastation that would ensue in the surrounding areas.
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“We have information that Russian terrorists mined the dam and aggregates of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant,” Ukraine's president told European leaders via video link on Thursday. “The water supply to a large part of the south of Ukraine may be destroyed.”
“If Russia is preparing such a terrorist attack, if it is seriously considering such a scenario, it means the terrorists are clearly aware that they will not be able to keep not only Kherson but also the entire south of our country, including Crimea,” he said.
Kirill Stremousov, the pro-Russian deputy governor of Kherson, which Russia said it has annexed in violation of international law, downplayed the possibility of catastrophe, according to Russian state media.
"I would not overdramatize the situation as far as the Kakhovka Hydro is concerned. Even if the Khakhovka dam is hit, the water level will rise by one meter, one and a half meters at the most,” he said on Russia’s TV Channel One, per TASS. “That’s the maximum mark. This may happen only on certain parts of the right bank and left bank of the Kherson Region. A critical situation is ruled out.”
He also said that “some say [the] Ukrainian military may use drifting mines to blow up the dam. But all this is too complex and unrealistic.”
The Institute for the Study of War reported earlier this week that the false flag operation may be designed to “cover their retreat from the right bank of the Dnipro River and prevent or delay Ukrainian advances across the river.”
Commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine Gen. Sergey Surovikin said that Kyiv was intending to strike the dam, which the ISW said was done “to set information conditions for Russian forces to damage the dam and blame Ukraine for the subsequent damage and loss of life, all while using the resulting floods to cover their own retreat further south into Kherson Oblast.”
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The Kremlin could use the false flag “to overshadow the news of a third humiliating retreat for Russian forces,” the ISW report added.
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council could not confirm the allegation levied by Zelensky, and deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh also declined to provide any insights during a briefing with reporters on Friday.
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