A torrent of water burst through a gaping hole in the massive Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine early on Tuesday, flooding a swath of the war zone. and forcing thousands of people to flee in the face of potentially catastrophic flooding.
Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the dam from within in a deliberate war crime. On the other hand, regional leaders appointed by Russia gave contradictory versions of what happened, in some cases they assured that the Ukrainians had bombed the dam and in others they said that it broke by itself. This is what we know so far.
The Nova Kakhovka dam supplies water to the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula and to the refrigerator of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, both under Russian control. It also helps power the Kajovka hydroelectric plant.
The vast reservoir behind it is one of the major landforms of southern Ukraine, 240 kilometers long and up to 23 km wide. The surrounding land is a large strip of farmland. The dam itself is 30 meters high and hundreds of meters wide and contains about 18 cubic kilometers of water. It was built in 1956 as part of the Kajovka hydroelectric power station.
The destruction of the dam creates a new humanitarian disaster at the center of the war zone and transforms the front lines, just as Ukraine is launching a long-awaited counter-offensive to drive the Russian army from its territory. Its destruction also exacerbates Ukraine's current energy problems generated by the Russian campaign of attacks against its infrastructure.
The dam was one of the strategic points on the front due to its disruptive potential. Russia has controlled the dam since the beginning of the war, although Ukrainian forces recaptured the north bank of the river in a successful offensive late last year. Both parties had long been accusing each other of planning their destruction.
Images of a massive breach in the dam leaking large amounts of water downriver began to circulate early Tuesday. "Russian terrorists. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms to the whole world that they must be expelled from all corners of the Ukrainian land," wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who accused the Russians. of having committed a war crime.
From Moscow, the Kremlin denied any responsibility and, for its part, accused Kyiv. "This is deliberate, planned and organized sabotage by order of the Kiyv regime," Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitri Peskov said. The Kremlin spokesman linked what happened to the Ukrainian counteroffensive and assured that Kyiv took this step because "it does not achieve its objectives" on the battlefield. "Their offensive operations are drowning," he said.
Some 22,000 people living in 14 settlements in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson are at risk of flooding, according to the Russian news agency RIA, citing the Moscow-appointed regional chief. A Russian-appointed official in the town of Nova Kakhovka said on Tuesday that residents of around 300 houses had been evacuated, the state news agency TASS reported.
Russian-backed Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov said there is a risk of a drop in the water level of the North Crimean Canal, which carries fresh water to the peninsula from the Dnieper River. Crimea has sufficient water reserves at the moment and the risk level will become clear in the coming days.
The water from the reservoir is needed to cool the reactors at the Zaporizhia plant and prevent a radioactive leak. The infrastructure's own reservoir is currently full and the water level is 16.6 meters, sufficient for the plant's needs, the company estimated.
The damage to the dam has caused a serious drop in the water level in the reservoir that is used to cool the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, which continues to drop at a rate of 5 centimeters per hour, despite which there is currently no "immediate risk" for security according to the UN, which assured that the water level in the reservoir "was about 16.4 meters at 8 in the morning." But he warned that "if it drops below 12.7 meters, it will no longer be possible to pump." However, "there are several alternative sources of water."
The ecological impact, including erosion and contamination of soil and water, are difficult to estimate yet but will probably be "big" and could be felt "beyond the Ukrainian borders," Mykhailo Yatsiuk of the National Academy told Ukrainian television. of Agricultural Sciences.
The destruction of the dam has already caused the spillage of some 150 tons of motor oil, according to the Ukrainian authorities, who fear an ecological disaster. According to a note from the Presidency, "there is a risk of a new spill of more than 300 tons", although Zelenski's office has not specified the origin.
The destruction of the dam will affect the entire agricultural environment, as well as homes, in the dry south of Ukraine, due to its adverse effects on a complex irrigation system that is based on the Kajovka reservoir. "Agriculture is impossible without irrigation given the climatic conditions of these regions," said Tetiana Zavzharova, from the environmental NGO "Ecosense," for her part.
In addition to extensive damage to the reservoir, the complete destruction of the Kajovka hydroelectric plant's engine room was confirmed by the operator, Ukrgidrenergo. That further weakens the country's power system, which has lost more than half its generating capacity to the Russian invasion.
The attack on the dam comes a day after Russia announced it had successfully repelled the start of the long-awaited counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army. Ukrainian authorities are silent about the start of the new campaign, although in his late-night speech on Monday, Zelensky was enigmatic, praising "the news we were waiting for" and the progress in the city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region.
The leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in a message on Telegram that Moscow's claims about huge Ukrainian losses are "just wild and absurd science fiction."
If the start of the counteroffensive is confirmed, the flooding of the banks of the Dnipro River would hinder the potential advance of Ukrainian troops to the bank controlled by Russian forces.
