If Ukraine takes the city, it would leave Russian forces without a land route from Russia for resupply or reinforcements. Between the estuary and the city center run the main roads and rail networks used by Russia to reinforce its front lines in the south. The most northern point of the Molochnyi estuary, which flows up from the Sea of Azov, is only 15 km south of the center of Melitopol. Such a move could be the fastest, most direct way to cut off the Kremlin’s only land bridge from Russia to Crimea. Its liberation would cut Russia’s land bridge to Crimea in half and put Ukraine within striking distance of many military targets on the peninsula. Melitopol is a medium-sized city, but its importance derives less from its size than from its location - near the coast of the Sea of Azov. Turkiye has proposed an independent international commission to investigate the origins of the breach, but in the middle of a war zone that would be difficult. While this region is in southern Ukraine, it is considerable distance from the flooding. This means an attack from the direction of Zaporizhzhia, with the main objective being Melitopol to the south. Instead, it is likely that the main goal of Ukraine’s counteroffensive will be to drive a wedge between the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol and Crimea’s Isthmus of Perekop. Even so, the damaged dam, and the subsequent flooding, is unlikely to have an impact on Ukraine’s forthcoming military operations.įor weeks, many have speculated where the counteroffensive will take place, but a Ukrainian military crossing of the Dnipro would have been risky even under normal conditions, and therefore unlikely. The flood waters have wiped out Russia’s first line of defense along the southern stretches of the Dnipro, but the flooding also makes a Ukrainian river crossing almost impossible. Militarily, both sides are affected by the flooding. Some have speculated that this incident is connected to Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive to take back territory seized by Russia since the war began in February last year.
When it comes to Ukraine, the US intelligence community has been accurate, even predicting that Russia would invade almost to the exact date.
This would be an interesting development if it happened. US officials speaking off the record say that American intelligence suggesting that Russia was behind the dam’s rupture will soon be declassified. Each side accuses the other of being responsible the destruction of the Kakhova dam. Since its invasion, Russia has attacked at least two dams in Ukraine: the Oskil dam in July 2022 and the Kryvyi Rih dam last September. Unsurprisingly, this contributed to maximum devastation across the region. Curiously, in the weeks leading up to the breach, Russia filled the Kakhova Reservoir to its highest levels in more than three decades. The dam had been under the control of Russian forces for more than a year. This incident is just the latest tragic chapter in the horror story that is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Dozens of villages and towns, and thousands of people, have been affacted. The destruction of the dam on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine sent torrents of water flooding everything in its path. The world woke up last week to shocking images of the Kakhovka dam rupturing.
0 kommentar(er)
