Russians are reportedly mining general and special-purpose hydroelectric facilities in the Belgorod Oblast.

Colonel Vitaliy Sarantsev, spokesman for the Kharkiv operational and tactical group of troops, reported on this.

According to Sarantsev, the Russians are not only actively building defensive fortifications around Belgorod, but are also mining the dams.

“This can be seen as laying mines for the future if, for example, the situation changes dramatically and the Russians have to blow up dams to slow down the advance of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, or we can assume that Russia is preparing provocations at hydroelectric facilities to blame Ukraine for environmental and humanitarian consequences in the future,” Sarantsev says.

He added that such actions could be used to mobilize the population and divert attention from internal problems.

Sarantsev clarified that blowing up the dams could lead to large-scale floods, flooding of settlements, and environmental disaster.

Such actions are components of hybrid warfare and scorched earth tactics. Moreover, by mining the dams, the Russians could potentially stage a disaster and attribute it to Ukrainian forces, shifting blame for the resulting environmental and humanitarian crises.

On September 18, Militarnyi reported that Russia had prepared a nuclear test site on the island of Novaya Zemlya for new nuclear tests.

This was announced in an interview with Rear Admiral Andrey Sinitsyn, Head of the nuclear weapons testing facility, held by Russian media.

During the interview, he noted that the facility is fully prepared to resume nuclear tests, which have not been conducted on the site since October 24, 1990.

The last test was the detonation of a 70-kiloton warhead at the A13-N tunnel site at a depth of 600 meters, after which the site was partially shut down.

The site, as well as the laboratory and testing facilities, are ready. The personnel have also been notified of the possibility of nuclear testing.