Ukraine says Russia targeted the enormous dam upstream of Kyiv as part of a massive bombardment

BUSINESS INSIDER:  A hydroelectric dam upstream of Kyiv was among the targets of a Russian barrage of missiles and drones on Monday, according to multiple reports.

The attack came amid one of Russia's largest-ever attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, with more than 200 drones and missiles launched, Ukraine's air force said.

The dam, connected to the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, was struck in the onslaught, Ukrainian presidential advisor Timofiy Mylovanov said.

Mylovanov shared video footage that appeared to show flames and damage to the dam, but noted that the dam "holds."

However, he said that if the dam were to collapse, "a significant portion of Kyiv would be flooded."

The Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant sits about four miles north of the city's outer limits on the Dnipro River, and is a crucial part of Ukraine's power supply.

Kyiv's regional military administration said that two energy facilities in the region were damaged in the attack on Monday, without going into specifics.

The Kyiv Independent reported that there appeared to be some localized damage to the dam, while an unnamed manager at Ukraine's state energy company Ukrhydroenergo told Forbes Ukraine that Russia had targeted the plant with rockets and drones.

But official assessments suggest that it would be very difficult for Russia to destroy the dam.

Ihor Syrota, Ukrhydroenergo's chief, said in July that it would be "virtually impossible" to destroy the power plant from the outside.

Russia would have to drop several bombs from aircraft that would need to travel far beyond the front line to do so, he said.

Ukrainian officials have war-gamed several possible scenarios in the event of a catastrophic breach of the dam.

In the worst-case scenario the plant would be destroyed, RBC Ukraine reported, and water levels could rise by almost 10 feet in several districts of the capital, the outlet said.

However, even in this instance, Kyiv residents would have time to relocate, it said.

In July, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed without evidence that Ukraine was preparing to destroy the dam, Russian state-controlled outlet TASS reported.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry quickly dismissed the accusation as "absurd," saying: "There can be no realistic purpose or motive for Ukraine to destroy its own infrastructure."

On Monday, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of a Ukrainian government anti-disinformation unit, discouraged comparisons with the June 2023 destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Russian-occupied Kherson, which was blown up from the inside.

Russia has accused Ukraine of being responsible for its destruction, but US and European officials have concluded that Russia was behind the attack.

Dozens died in the floods that followed, with thousands of civilians forced to flee their homes. There has also been lasting environmental damage.

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