Russians moving combat-ready units from Kherson area – Ukraine's Ministry of Defense

Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

"According to the available information, it emerged that the enemy is moving its most combat-capable units from the Kherson direction, primarily units of the marines, airborne troops and the 49th army," she said.

Therefore, Maliar said, the purpose of the blowing up of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant by Russian forces becomes obvious.

"Taking into account their own losses and limited reserves, thereby understanding the inability to restrain the Ukrainian offensive in various directions, the command of the Russian occupying forces decided to 'narrow' the possible geography of active actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," she said.

According to Maliar, the Kakhovka HPP was apparently blown up "with the aim of preventing an offensive by the Defense Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson area and releasing the necessary reserves for their transfer to the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut areas."

Maliar added that by destroying the Kakhovka HPP, the Russian leadership is trying to make part of the forces and resources of the Defense Forces of Ukraine eliminate the aftermath of the man-made disaster, thus making it impossible to liberate the captured territories on the east bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.

Early on June 6, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam. The plant cannot be restored.

In the Kherson region, rescue operations and evacuations from flooded areas are ongoing. The situation is especially difficult in the temporarily occupied territories, where the invaders left people without any help.