Zelensky spokesman says dam attack may affect Ukraine’s counteroffensive plans but that it ‘only increased’ Kyiv’s desire to liberate occupied territories
Zelensky administration advisor Podolyak said Tuesday that while the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam may cause Ukraine to adjust its plans for its counteroffensive, it has only increased Kyiv’s desire to liberate the country’s occupied territories. “Not carrying out an offensive isn’t an option for us,” he said during a television appearance.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said after the body held an emergency meeting that “nobody, not a single Russian, will stop the liberation of Ukraine, whose time has come.”
Podolyak and other Ukrainian officials have blamed Russia for the explosion that rocked the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on Tuesday morning. According to preliminary information cited by Podolyak, the explosion was the work of Russia’s 205th Separate Cossack Motor Rifle Brigade.
The Ukrainian advisor said he believes Moscow had several reasons for carrying out the attack. In addition to trying to delay Ukraine’s counteroffensive, he said, the Russian authorities hope to “scare” Ukraine’s Western allies and show Russian society that Russia’s troops hold the initiative on the battlefield.
