MOSCOW. June 13 (Interfax) - The Kakhovka Hydropower Plant (HPP) was destroyed through the fault of Ukraine, which struck the facility with HIMARS projectiles deliberately, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"It is clear who is to blame. This is what the Ukrainian side strove for. You know, now I won't be saying things 100%, [things] I am not sure of. By and large, we have not recorded any big explosions. But the thing is: before the destruction, they were pounding the Kakhovka HPP with HIMARS repeatedly on purpose. That's the thing," Putin said at a meeting with military reporters on Tuesday.
A bomb may have been planted by Ukraine, the Russian president said.
"Right now I don't know. Maybe, once again they added something inconsiderable there and the destruction began. But as we understand, we are definitely not interested in this [destroying the Kakhovka HPP], because that means harder consequences for our territories that we control and that are Russian," Putin said.
Secondly, "regrettably, this disrupted their counteroffensive in this sector," he said.
"Why regrettably? Because it would have been better if they advanced there. Better for us because for them this would have been too bad to advance there. But since this spill-out happened, the offensive, accordingly, failed to take place," Putin said.