2023-06-09 14:31:00
Satellites monitor an explosion at the Kakhovka Dam before it collapsed (Archyde.com)
A senior official in the administration of President Joe Biden revealed that US spy satellites detected an explosion in the Kakhovka Dam shortly before it collapsed, but US analysts still do not know who caused the destruction of the dam or how exactly it happened.
The official said satellites equipped with infrared sensors detected a thermal signal corresponding to a large explosion just before the dam collapsed, releasing huge floodwaters downstream.
The senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details, also said that US intelligence analysts suspected Russia was behind the destruction of the dam, but added that US spy agencies still lacked any conclusive evidence of who was responsible.
deliberate explosion
Engineering and munitions experts indicated that a deliberate explosion inside the Kakhovka Dam, which is controlled by Russia, likely caused its collapse on Tuesday. They added that a structural failure or an attack from outside the dam was possible but the least plausible explanation.
While the administration official did not rule out the possibility that previous damage to the dam or increased water pressure contributed to the collapse, US officials believe that the explosion, whether intentional or accidental, was the likely cause.
Nova Kakhovka Dam (AP)
Experts had warned earlier this week that the available evidence was very limited, but said that an explosion in an enclosed space, with all its energy applied to the structure around it, would cause the most damage.
Even then, they said, it would take at least hundreds of pounds of explosives to breach the dam.
External detonation by a bomb or missile would only affect a fraction of its force once morest the dam, and would require several times larger explosives to achieve the same effect.
“Russia’s involvement”
It is noteworthy that the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Friday that “all indications seem to indicate” that Russia is involved. He added in a televised interview that “the dam was not bombed, but was destroyed by explosives that were set up in the areas where the turbines are located, and this area is under Russian control.”
While the Ukrainian Internal Security Service announced that it had monitored a phone call proving that Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and the dam in the Kherson region in the south of the country.
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