An American in Crimea: Kevin Michelizzi Interview

Following the attack on the #NovaKakhovka dam last week, I wanted to check in with my friend Kevin Michelizzi to find out what’s really happening on the ground. Kevin is an American citizen currently living in #Crimea, #Russia, an Information and Cyberwarfare specialist, and journalist with a unique perspective on the war that’s happening right in his backyard. On this edition of Maverick News, we asked Kevin to describe how the blowing up of the dam — and the resulting floods — are affecting local residents, including his own family. The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant is in the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region of the former #Ukraine, now part of the #RussianFederation. The dam was built in the Soviet era and is one of six that sit along the Dnipro river, which stretches from the very north of the country into the Black Sea. In #Kherson region, Russia occupies the left, or southern, bank while Ukraine controls the right, or northern, bank. Video footage showed a massive breach in the dam, with water surging through it and flooding downstream in the direction of Kherson. Ukrainian dam operator UkrHydroEnerho said the Nova Kakhovka station was “fully destroyed” and could not be restored. It’s unclear when exactly the dam was first damaged, but satellite images suggest its condition deteriorated over a number of days. As water from the vast Kakhovka reservoir poured through the damaged dam, agricultural land and dozens of villages and towns were quickly flooded. Thousands of people from both sides of the river have been evacuated from their homes, but the full scale of the disaster is not yet clear. Who is responsible for the attack is disputed: Ukraine blames Russia for attacking the dam. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov blamed Ukraine, calling it an act of “sabotage” that would deprive the Crimean peninsula – an area annexed by Russia in 2014 – of water. The dam held back a vast reservoir that supplied water to communities upstream, and provided cooling water to the nuclear power station at #Zaporizhzhia, around 100 miles away, which is under Russian control. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there was no immediate nuclear safety risk but it was monitoring the situation. Watch and share this incredible interview! Support my independent journalism at: Follow me on Twitter: Subscribe on Rumble for UNCENSORED videos Youtube won’t let me show you!