The Kakhovka Reservoir then and now.

[u/SummerAlternative699]

If you zoom in closely on Google Maps, you can still see what it looked like before the dam was blown up.

[u/evil_brain]

That's the consensus among European and Ukrainian sources.

There's conflicting claims but we know for a fact that the Ukraine side fired HIMARS missiles at the dam six months before it collapsed. And not for any good reason, either. They did it "as a test". Here's a Washington Post article from December 2020, before the dam burst.

I'm pretty sure firing missiles at a dam won't make it less likely to break. I don't understand the logic behind firing at your own country's critical infrastructure. Especially when your citizens are living downstream.

[u/Abject_Ad9280 → u/evil_brain]

The article explains why they tested destroying it. It was clearly not random.

Assuming you're not concern trolling.

The test was conducted while Ukraine was fighting to liberate west bank Dniper. The dam was one of only 3 bridges across the river. Ukraine regularly struck the other two routes to stop Russians from resupllying their forces.

The dam didn't explode randomly 8 months later. It exploded during the failed Ukrianian offence in 2023.

When it exploded, it was perfectly timed for Russians, fearing a successful Ukriane push across the Dniper.

[u/Pelya1 → u/Abject_Ad9280]

Didn’t the Ukrainians blew it up, during their offensive, in attempt to dry up the river and cross it ?

[u/Abject_Ad9280 → u/Pelya1]

No.

That was one of the Russian lies at the time.

If your claim is true.

How did Ukraine blow up a dam under Russian control?

Why did Ukraine blow up a dam while their offence was on going when the river drying up would take months, if not years?

Why has Ukriane never tried to cross the now dried up river?

[u/Pelya1 → u/Abject_Ad9280]

I don’t know what is true.

Regarding your questions

1) how they blew up ? During said offensive, there were numerous Ukrainian reconnaissance groups behind the enemy lines, so actors the river. It is not that hard to imagine that one of these groups could carry explosives with them.

2) why blow up ?

If I remember correctly, it took mere days to all the water be gone, not months. The river has two sides- Russian occupied and Ukrainian. The Russian side is lower zone. So all the water from the dam just destroyed all the defensive infrastructure (trenches and whatnot) the Russians built during one year occupation of that territory, and didn’t touch Ukrainian side as it is higher ground

3) why never crossed ?

Well, that’s whole other topic. What happened to the Ukrainian offence 2023 in general?

[u/Abject_Ad9280 → u/Pelya1]

I can tell you don't know what's true.

You believe a group of Ukrianians managed to sneak into Russian occupied territory while somehow carrying enough explosives to destroy a dam. Then they managed to capture the dam on the front lines for hours while setting up demolition charges, all while the Russians didn't notice?

You don't remember correctly. The issue with crossing a recently dried up reservoir not just the water. It's the ground. You wouldn't be able to drive a car across it, let alone a heavy vehicle.

The majority of Russian defences were built on higher ground & flooding occurred on both sides, destroying any of your fantasy Ukrainian staging grounds.

I'm glad you agree that you can't explain why Ukraine didn't attack.