An intercepted phone call reveals a Russian subversion group blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station to blackmail Ukraine by causing a man-made disaster.

In the audio recording, published on Friday by Ukraine’s security service, SBU, two Russian soldiers can be heard discussing the dam’s collapse.

"It’s not them [Ukrainians] who hit it. It was our sabotage group. They wanted to scare [Ukrainians] with this dam," one is heard as saying. "It went not as planned, but more than they planned."

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"It was ours [Russians] who did it, not them [Ukrainians]," he adds.

The Russian serviceman also describes the aftermath of the explosion, including the rising water levels, flooding, and the destruction that ensued.

Earlier, the SBU opened a criminal investigation into the blowing up of the Nova Kakhovka dam.

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Russia blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant overnight on Tuesday, leading to the breach of the dam and unleashing floodwater across the downstream area.

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