According to the New York Times, there is evidence that Russia caused an inside explosion that resulted in the destruction of the massive Kakhovka dam this month in an area of Ukraine that is controlled by Russia.
The newspaper said on Friday, citing engineers and experts in explosives, that its investigation found evidence suggesting that an explosive charge in a passageway running through the concrete base of the dam detonated on June 6 and destroyed the structure.
"The evidence strongly suggests that the side that controls the dam set off an explosion that destroyed the dam: Russia," stated the Times.
Separately, preliminary findings released on Friday by a group of international legal experts assisting Ukraine's prosecutors indicated that the collapse in Ukraine's Kherson region was "highly likely" caused by explosives planted by Russians.
In order to cut off a crucial source of water for Crimea and divert attention from a "faltering" counter-offensive against Russian forces, the Kremlin accuses Kyiv of sabotaging the hydroelectric dam, which contained a reservoir the size of the Great Salt Lake in the United States.
Ukraine alleges that Russia destroyed the Soviet-era dam, which had been under Russian control since Russia's early 2022 invasion, releasing floodwater across a significant portion of the battlefield, destroying farmland, and cutting off civilian water supplies.
The claims regarding the explosion's cause could not be independently verified by Reuters.
According to engineers cited by The Times, the sequence of events that led to the destruction can only be determined by a comprehensive examination of the dam after the water drains from it.
According to the newspaper, "Erosion from water cascading through the gates could have led to a failure if the dam was poorly designed or the concrete was substandard, but engineers called that unlikely."