the enemy’s detonation of the HPP should not prevent the offensive of the Armed Forces

The Ukrainian military command took into account the possibility of Russian troops undermining the Kakhovskaya HPP, but this should not harm the Ukrainian offensive, – said the commander of the Combined Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sergey Naev.

“There are appropriate calculations… for the damage that a spill of water can lead to. Now the command in this direction is taking measures, first of all, for the safety of the civilian population together with the representatives of the local authorities,” Naeva quotes on Facebook as quoted by the Ukrainian Radio Service Freedom.

Earlier on Tuesday, the press secretary of the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, Natalya Humenyuk, said that the Russian troops decided to stop the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army by detonating the Kakhovskaya HPP.

On June 6, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused the Ukrainian authorities of undermining the built Kakhovskaya HPP, emphasizing that this was done to disrupt the Russian army’s offensive. At the same time, Shoigu claimed that over the past three days, the Russian military had thwarted the “long-promised offensive” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on different parts of the front, and that in three days of fighting, the losses of the Ukrainian army amounted to 3,715 servicemen.

On the night of June 5, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the start of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in five areas in the southern Donetsk direction the day before. At the same time, it was noted in Moscow that this offensive was foiled and that the Ukrainian army failed to achieve its goals.

The Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Anna Malyar, later reported that the Ukrainian military is moving to offensive actions in some directions, and the Bakhmut direction remains the epicenter of hostilities. “Why are the Russians actively launching information about the counteroffensive? Because they need to distract attention from the defeat in the Bakhmut direction,” Malyar wrote.

On Tuesday, Shoigu said that on June 5, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to advance in seven more directions by the forces of five brigades, but were stopped again and suffered “even more significant losses.” On the Russian side, according to him, 71 soldiers died.

On June 6, the American Institute for the Study of War announced that they have not yet begun to assess the counteroffensive operations of the Armed Forces. Experts say that a successful offensive “may take days, weeks or even months before its result becomes completely obvious.” And British intelligence said, in turn, that over the past 48 hours, fighting has intensified significantly in many areas of the front, including “those that have been relatively quiet for several months.”

Recently, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published a video in which, on behalf of the Ukrainian military, it appealed to observe informational silence. It says that the offensive of the Armed Forces will begin without an announcement.

In the conditions of hostilities, it is difficult to get independent confirmation of the declared participants in the conflict.