“16 lock gates, the hydroelectric power station building and the dam between the power station building and the lock were damaged. The hydraulic plant cannot be restored“, says Ihor Syrota, director of the joint-stock company Ukrhydroenergo, which owns the installation.
Russian forces claim that Ukrainian shelling partially damaged the hydroelectric power station. According to the government in kyiv, as a result of the destruction, some 80 towns could be flooded.
Already on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant was conquered.. The Ukrainian intelligence service assures that, in October 2022, the Russian Army completely undermined the dam.
Ukraine accuses Russia of “terrorist state” after dam destruction
Before the International Court of Justice, #ICJ, #Ukraine also accused #Russia of having destroyed the #Kajovka dam in the framework of what it denounces as a years-long campaign of violence. /cq#DWNews pic.twitter.com/uzSNyYiKMu
– DW Spanish (@dw_espanol) June 6, 2023
The disaster protection corps reports that rescuers, police and volunteers have evacuated nearly 1,300 people so far. On the right bank of the Dnieper River, in the Kherson region, under the control of Ukrainian forces, the situation is not critical, since the ground level there is higher than on the other side of the bank.
Mines threaten cities and towns
In addition, The Ukrainian authorities warn that, with the masses of water released, Russian mines could reach the flooded towns. “The mine barricades, which the enemy built on the left bank, have been destroyed by the water. The mines explode out of control and float in the river,” says Natalya Humenyuk, spokesperson for the defense forces in the south of the country.
While the mayor of New Kakhovka, just five kilometers from the hydraulic power station and under Russian occupation, reports that the ship station, yacht club, zoo and park are flooded, Russian troops in the occupied region of Kherson maintain that the inhabitants of the towns on the banks of the Dnieper are not in danger.
Experts fear lack of drinking water
According to forecasts by the company Ukrhydroenergo, which operates the dam, in the next four days, the water from the reservoir will completely flow down the Dnieper River. The volume of the reservoir is around 18 billion cubic meters of water. Hence, experts fear catastrophic consequences for the region.
Ruslan Havrilyuk, director of the National Ecological Center of Ukraine, tells DW that the Kakhovka reservoir will soon be emptied, leaving behind dead plants and animals in the mud. He also fears that there will be a shortage of drinking water and a drought in the entire southern region of Ukraine, which was supplied with water from the reservoir.
The oil from the engines of the hydroelectric plant is also a problem. “About 450 tons of lubricant are stored in the turbines and transformers at the Kajovka plant. We still do not know exactly how much oil has been spilled, but we estimate that it is more than 150 tons,” says Ihor Syrota, director of Ukrhydroenergo.
Ukraine’s Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets spoke of “ecocide”. In his opinion, the destruction of the dam is “a barbaric act” and a “humanitarian catastrophe”. According to Strilets, up to a million people could lose their access to fresh water.
Danger to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
While the destruction of the dam does not directly affect Ukraine’s power system and the stability of electricity supply, the Ukrainian authorities stress the potential risks to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the hands of Russian troops. And it is that with the water from the Kajovka reservoir, the reactors are cooled.
In this regard, the Ministry of Energy, in kyiv, ensures that experts from the national company Energoatom constantly control the water level in the cooling batteries of the nuclear power plant.
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