Russia rejects Ukraine's accusations of attacking Kakhovka dam

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Tuesday strongly rejected accusations of blowing up the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine that unleashed water from the breached facility and threatened massive flooding, claiming it was a "deliberate" act of sabotage by Kyiv.

The attack was carried out by Kyiv, and it should bear full responsibility of the consequences, Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

"The president has received reports from the Defense Ministry and other agencies about what is happening around the Kakhovka HPP (hydroelectric power station) ... we can unequivocally state that we are talking about deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side," he stressed.

Peskov claimed that Kyiv carried out the attack due to a failure of its much-anticipated counteroffensive, which is "choking."

One of Ukraine's goals in targeting the critical infrastructure was to deprive Crimea of water, which is supplied to the peninsula through the Kakhovka Reservoir.

The vast dam, 30 meters (98 feet) tall and 3.2 km (2 miles) long, was built in 1956 on the Dnieper River as part of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. It also holds an 18 km3 capacity reservoir.