MOSCOW
\nEvidence suggests this month\u2019s destruction of the huge Kakhovka dam in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine resulted from an inside explosion set off by Russia, The NewYork Times said.
\nCiting engineers and explosive experts, the newspaper said on Friday that its investigation found evidence suggesting an explosive charge in a passageway running through the dam\u2019s concrete base detonated, destroying the structure on June 6.
\n\u201cThe evidence clearly suggests the dam was crippled by an explosion set off by the side that controls it: Russia,\u201d The Times said.
\nSeparately, a team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine\u2019s prosecutors in their investigation said in preliminary findings on Friday it was \u201chighly likely\u201d the collapse in Ukraine\u2019s Kherson region was caused by explosives planted by Russians.
\nThe Kremlin accuses Kyiv of sabotaging the hydroelectric dam, which held a reservoir the size of the US Great Salt Lake, to cut off a key source of water for Crimea and distract attention from a \u201cfaltering\u201d counter-offensive against Russian forces.
\nUkraine accuses Russia of blowing up the Soviet-era dam, under Russian control since the early days of its invasion in 2022, unleashing floodwater across a large swath of the battleground, destroying farmland and cutting off water supplies to civilians.
\nReuters could not independently verify the claims about the explosion\u2019s cause.
\nThe Times cited engineers as saying only a full examination of the dam after the water drains from it can establish the sequence of events leading to the destruction.
\n\u201cErosion from water cascading through the gates could have led to a failure if the dam were poorly designed, or the concrete was substandard, but engineers called that unlikely,\u201d the newspaper said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOSCOW Evidence suggests this month\u2019s destruction of the huge Kakhovka dam in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine resulted from an inside explosion set off by Russia, The NewYork Times said. Citing engineers and explosive experts, the newspaper said on Friday that its investigation found evidence suggesting an explosive charge in a passageway running through the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-338541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n