DID YOU KNOW ABOUT 1941 DAM DESTRUCTION?

As absolutely outrageous as intentionally blowing up the Kakhovka Dam may seem, June 6, 2023, was not the first time russians have performed such an act of sabotage. “In August 1941, with Nazi forces storming toward Zaporizhzhya during the German invasion of the Soviet Union, retreating Red Army forces blasted a hole in the dam of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (DniproHES),” recounts RadioFreeEurope/LibertyRadio. Then, as now, citizens in the floodpath were given no warning. It is estimated that approximately 3,000 people died in the resulting floods of 1941; an official casualty number for the June 6 flood has not yet been released, but as of June 21, the estimate was 52 people had been killed and more than 11,000 displaced.

The DniproHes, which was fully repaired by 1950, is located around 210 kilometers upstream from the location of today's Nova Kakhovka Dam and is now privately operated. russia’s legacy of sacrificial sabotage is one of the things that makes it such a terrifying state: strategic benefit seems to always be at the root of its decision-making process, no matter the humanitarian or environmental toll.

Source: RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty