Thread by @Volodymyr_D_

What happened to Kakhovska HPP
Debunking myths about self-destruction
1/15
@CITeam_en @nytimes @TheStudyofWar @washingtonpost @leonidvolkov @shashj

1. Some believe that the dam collapsed on its own due to previous damage. Satellite images of water discharge are cited as evidence 2/15

3/15 But it is enough to look at satellite images from last year (before the first blow-up of the HPP station by the Russians - 2022/10/18) to make sure that the pattern of water discharge was the same and does not indicate damage to the dam

4/15 For comparison, a picture of the HPP on October 15, 2022 (before the first destruction) and June 5, 2023 (where there are allegedly signs of a bad condition of the HPP)

https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1665980392694771714

2.The destruction of the HPP is not of a cascading nature, but zonal, and the epicenters of the destruction are far from the place of detonation on October 18, 2022
During last year's retreat, the Ru blew up the upper part above the three sluice gates on the right bank side 5/15

6/15 Now destroyed about 14 sections of the dam on the other side of the previous explosion, the engine room and the dam between the HPP and the lock.
Accordingly, there is no cascading nature of destruction.

3. The structure of the HPP is not monolithic, and therefore the cascading nature of the destruction should not, in principle, occur. In essence, each section that holds the sluice gate is a separate reinforced concrete support 7/15

8/15 That is, damage to one support does not lead to damage to another. Metal shields are a much more vulnerable part of the dam than reinforced concrete supports, and self-destruction would have a completely different appearance - the collapse of the shields

4. The Russians deliberately kept the water level in the reservoir at the maximum. First, to fill the reservoirs in Crimea as much as possible. Secondly, to achieve the maximum flood wave. The time of the detonation was also chosen for this purpose 9/15

5. I am attaching photos of the construction of the HPP to understand the scale of the structure and safety margin. It is very difficult to believe that the engine room was "washed away with water" 10/15

11/15 And it is not clear why it was "washed away" not from the side of the previous explosion, but from the side of the left bank.

6. The Kakhovska HPP cannot be destroyed in any other way than by placing a large amount of explosive charge in the base of the structure. During the first detonation of the old Kakhovska HPP in 1941, the Soviet authorities needed 20 tons of explosives 12/15

13/15 Therefore, the story about the "hit" on the hydroelectric power plant and the destruction of the dam by the 93-kilogram GMLRS is an even bigger fiction than the story about "self-destruction".

7. It was Russia that controlled the HPP all this time. Russia blew up the dam for the first time on October 18, 2022. Russia kept the water level in the reservoir at a maximum 14/15

15/15 It is impossible to believe that someone could plant several tons of explosives unnoticed by the Russians. Russia did it on purpose and tried to achieve the maximum effect of its crime.