A group of current and former Russian officials is calling on Russian troops to return to the "generally recognized" borders of the Russian Federation due to the environmental disaster caused by the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam in the Kherson region. At the same time, he avoids criticism of aggression against Ukraine.
This was reported by analysts of the Institute for the Study of War in the ISW report.
We are talking about representatives of the municipal authorities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the Moscow and Leningrad regions of Russia.
They signed an open letter appealing to Russian forces, which claimed that the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam would affect the planet's ecosystem, health issues and the economy for many decades, the publication said.
The letter stated that the actions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin since February 24, 2022, that is, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, have led to "unspecified catastrophic events."
At the same time, the reason for the withdrawal of Russian troops was not the continuation of Russian military efforts to occupy Ukraine, which Moscow calls "SМO".
According to ISW experts, Russian officials not connected to the Kremlin may be using the public unrest over the environmental and humanitarian situation related to the destruction of the hydroelectric dam to express their disapproval of the war against Ukraine without directly criticizing the military actions themselves.
The Kremlin has widely created the conditions to suppress anti-war dissent. Russians who are anti-war can use the destruction of hydroelectric power plants to express their opposition to the war in a very limited way," the report said.
Key findings
• On June 16, Ukrainian troops continued counteroffensive actions on at least three areas of the front and, as reported, achieved success.
• On June 15-16, Russian troops bombarded Kyiv and Kryvyi Rih with cruise missiles and kamikaze drones.
• The heads of seven African countries met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on June 16 in Kyiv as part of a joint peacekeeping mission.
• The Kremlin said that Russia had begun transferring tactical nuclear warheads (held by Russia) to Belarus in accordance with previously announced plans.
• RF troops conducted limited ground attacks on the Svatove-Kreminna line.
• Russian and Ukrainian troops conducted ground attacks in the Bakhmut area and on the Avdiyivka-Donetsk line.
• Ukrainian forces continued ground attacks in the Vugledar area.
• The Ukrainian Armed Forces continued counteroffensive actions near the administrative border of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions and reportedly achieved success in this area.
• The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is trying to incentivize the destruction of Ukrainian military equipment with money, which will probably support the current recruitment efforts.
• Russian and occupying "authorities" are trying to strengthen Russian land lines of communication between the Russian Federation and the occupied territory in Ukraine.•
Environmental disaster due to the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP
Russian invaders in the Kherson region blew up the Kakhovskaya HPP on the night of June 6, and as a result of their terrorist attack, part of the populated areas of the region flooded, and the temporarily occupied Crimea lost its water supply through the North Crimean Canal.
Ukrainian agencies warned that engine oil, garbage, parts of buildings and more got into the Dnipro.
Earlier, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, expressed the opinion that the Russian invaders, having lost the war, want to flee from Ukraine, destroying as much as possible everything that is located on the occupied territory.
In the meantime, let us remind you that according to a survey by the independent "Levada Center", in May 2023, 76% of Russian residents support a war with Ukraine. Respondents expect a protracted war, and support for peace talks has fallen to a minimum.
