Flooded towns and fields, rescue operations in inflatable boats, victims trying to keep their belongings in plastic bags. The rupture of the Nova Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper has left a devastated landscape in southern Ukraine, with at least 5,900 people displaced on both banks. According to the Kiev authorities, almost 1,900 people were evacuated in the territory controlled by Ukraine. According to authorities loyal to Moscow, more than 4,000 people were resettled in the areas occupied by Russia. In an initial assessment of the disaster, the Ukrainian government estimates that around 10,000 hectares of agricultural land were flooded; At least 20,000 homes and businesses are without power and “hundreds of thousands” of those affected have no access to drinking water. And the catastrophe is not over yet: A total of 80 cities, in which around 42,000 people live, are threatened by flooding. In addition, according to forecasts by the Ukrainian executive, 500,000 hectares of arable land (about 2% of the country’s agricultural land) could become “desert” due to irrigation problems.
The Kiev and Moscow authorities continue to blame each other for the destruction of the dam. So far they have not reported any fatalities, although they have reported a dozen people missing, seven in the area under Russian control and three in the area still in Ukrainian hands. All this amid plans for the expected counter-offensive in Ukraine, which Russia has already started, but about which Kiev has not confirmed anything. The huge Dnieper River separating the two armies in Kherson, some 60 kilometers from the dam, is one of the key scenarios of this major military operation.
Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, during a visit to the area, warned of the danger of mine movement, the spread of diseases and mixing of chemical substances with the water, Portal agency reports. According to Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin, the water exceeds five meters in some places and rescue workers have to advance in boats. On the east bank of the Dnieper, in the Russian-occupied zone, the feeling of chaos and fear of epidemic outbreaks due to massive animal deaths and flooding of cemeteries is growing among the population. For their part, the authorities decreed by the Kremlin in the region promise those affected a payment of 10,000 to 50,000 rubles (between 115 and 570 euros), “depending on the extent of the damage” to their homes, they say Javier G Cuesta.
In addition to the human and environmental disaster, the infrastructure collapse also raises fears that it will affect the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe and located on the banks of the Dnieper. As confirmed by the Kiev government, the plant, which depends on an adequate water level for cooling, has not had any problems so far.
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“Currently there is no immediate danger,” emphasizes the Ministry of Energy in a statement with reference to the nuclear power plant. It is “unlikely” that these facilities will have “imminent additional security problems,” according to British intelligence, which monitors the most critical aspects of security in the invaded country on a daily basis.
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Although the water from Nowa Kakhovka is essential for cooling the reactors at the Zaporizhia power plant, there is initially “no immediate danger to safety,” said the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Raphael Grossi, on Tuesday. Already aware of the importance of the Russian military-held and theater-aware enclave, Grossi will travel to the power plant next week, where an IAEA mission has been monitoring the site since last September. The water level in the dam is usually 16 meters. If it falls below 13.2, there is a risk that the refrigeration system will no longer be able to react, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Environment.
A local resident swims past a house in a flooded area in Kherson on Wednesday.OLEXANDER KORNYAKOV (AFP)
Flooded streets in the city of Kherson, this Wednesday. Libkos (AP)
An elderly woman cries after being evacuated in the city of Kherson this Wednesday. Roman Hrytsyna (AP)
Aerial view of the flooded streets in the city of Kherson this Wednesday. Libkos (AP)
A resident walks through the yard of his flooded home in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in the Kherson region, on Wednesday. ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO (Portal)
A Flora sneaker in a residential area in the town of Nova Kajhovka in the Kherson region on Wednesday. ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO (Portal)
A man uses a stand-up paddle board to navigate a flooded street in Kherson. Roman Hrytsyna (AP)
A man evacuates a cow in Kherson this Tuesday. Global Images Ukraine (Global Images Ukraine via Getty)
Several people are watching the Dnieper River flowing through Kherson this Tuesday. STRINGER (Portal)
The Kherson Culture House was flooded this Tuesday. TASS (via Portal)
The Nova Kajovka dam collapsed on Tuesday. TASS (via Portal)
Aerial view of a flooded Kherson street after the dam collapse. Global Images Ukraine (Global Images Ukraine via Getty)
Two people try to cross a flooded street on bicycles in Kherson on Tuesday. Associated Press/LaPresse
Satellite image of the Nova Kajovka dam on Tuesday.AP
A woman keeps her pets in her flooded home in Kherson. Evgeny Maloletka (AP)
Images of damage to the Nova Kajovka dam in south-eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. Portal
Water pours through the large gap in the Nova Kajovka dam, Tuesday AP
Destruction at the Nova Kajovka dam, in an aerial photo on Tuesday.AP
A man sits on a bench on the outskirts of Kherson, which is partially flooded after the dam burst, and watches the flow of water. SERGIY DOLLARS (AFP)
Evacuation at a train station in Kherson province this Tuesday due to the collapse of the dam. Nina Lyashonok (AP)
An area in Kherson province was partially flooded after damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam. SERGIY DOLLARS (AFP)
The assets of the Zaporizhia power plant are the most critical assets and those of greatest concern since the incident at dawn on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Energy, 129 substations in Kherson and two solar power plants in the Mykolaiv region were also flooded by the incident.
As of Wednesday morning, 1,852 houses on the west bank of the Dnieper were flooded, most of them in the Korabel district south of the city of Kherson, according to the regional governor. The western coast is the coast that has been under Ukrainian control since local forces managed to drive out the Russians seven months ago.
This Wednesday morning, a day and a half after the dam broke, the water level had dropped by 2.5 meters and the surrounding areas continued to be flooded, albeit more slowly than on Tuesday, according to public company Ukrhydroenergo, which manages hydroelectric power stations. The state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia organized an evacuation facility running from the city of Kherson to Mikolaiv in the early hours of the morning, but the absence of large populations in the areas affected by the incident made it unnecessary to charter special convoys, the researchers said. To sources of the company EL PAÍS.
Kiev authorities insist on blaming Russian occupying forces for a deliberate attack to destroy the dam. “Russian terrorists have shown once again that they pose a threat to all living things. “The destruction of one of the largest water reserves in Ukraine is absolutely premeditated,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his Twitter profile. “This is one of the most terrible terrorist attacks of this war,” declared Minister Kubrakov during his visit to Kherson. In addition, Ukraine describes what happened as an “ecocide”. Zelenskyy’s team released a video showing dead fish on the banks of the Dnieper.
The flooding, on the face of it, is benefiting Russian troops, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US center that doesn’t have data to determine who was behind the disaster. “Widening the Dnieper River and hampering Ukrainian counter-offensive attempts” could be a tactic the Kremlin military is pursuing, he points out in his daily report.
Kherson is also one of the most heavily mined regions in the current war. The International Committee of the Red Cross warned this Wednesday of the danger of the water moving the mines that have yet to be removed, as well as the signs that have been put up to alert the population and ban them from accessing uncleaned areas .
Nova Kajovka is a strategic enclave occupied by Russian troops since last year. The water supply for the population of the Crimean Peninsula, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, depends largely on these systems. Tensions have been palpable there for months. In November, the local army took control of the regional capital, Kherson, some 60 kilometers below the Black Sea estuary. This counter-offensive managed to drive the invading forces from the right bank, but for all these months, despite their best efforts, they failed to regain control of Nova Kajovka.
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