Ukraine has accused Russian troops of blowing up a major dam and a hydroelectric power station, causing a “catastrophic” flood that could displace hundreds of thousands of people and trigger a nuclear disaster by shutting off a nuclear power station’s cooling.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry confirmed this morning that the Kakhovka dam above the Dnieper River in the south of the country has been damaged by several explosions and called on the residents of 10 villages on the right bank of the river, as well as parts of the town of Kherson downstream, to evacuate their homes.
Both the dam and the hydroelectric plant were prioritized by Putin’s forces at the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 last year.
Ukraine said Russia destroyed it, possibly to prevent Kiev’s forces from continuing a counter-offensive in the southern Kherson region, while Russian officials gave conflicting accounts.
Here’s what we know so far about the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam – the latest twist in the 16-month Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This screenshot from a video posted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Twitter account on June 6, 2023 shows an aerial view of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam after it was partially destroyed
An explosion is seen at the destroyed Kakhovka hydroelectric power station in Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region, June 6, 2023. Water was flung 40 feet into the air amid the blasts
Flooding continues in the occupied Kherson region after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station
What is the Kakhovka Dam?
Located in southern Ukraine on the Dnieper River, the Kakhovka Dam is a major engineering project that plays a vital role in water management and energy production in the region.
Built between 1947 and 1956, the dam was designed to regulate the flow of the Dnieper River, control flooding and generate hydroelectric power.
It is a massive structure 30 meters (98 ft) tall and 3.2 km (2 mi) long.
The dam was not only used to generate hydropower, but also supplies much of the drinking water for the northern part of Crimea – the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Water from the dam is also being siphoned further east to be pumped around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – to cool the reactors.
The Kakhovka Dam contains a huge reservoir of 18 cubic kilometers of water – a volume roughly equal to the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah.
A satellite image shows the Nova Kakhovka dam in Kherson region, Ukraine on June 5, 2023, before the attack
What happened at the dam?
It is still unclear what exactly caused the explosions and both sides have blamed each other – although last year Ukrainian officials said Russia dug the dam as its troops withdrew from the city of Kherson and some videos circulated on Telegram appeared to show mine explosions near the hydroelectric plant.
Ukraine, which was the first to respond, said Russia was responsible.
Russian terrorists. The destruction of the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station only confirms to the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of the Ukrainian land,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in the Telegram messaging app.
“The goal of the terrorists is obvious: to create obstacles to offensive actions by the armed forces,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said.
“The Kakhovka (reservoir) has been blown up by the Russian occupiers,” the southern command of the Ukrainian armed forces said, while defense officials claimed Russian forces carried out the attacks to thwart a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Finally, Ukraine’s state-owned hydropower company said the plant was destroyed by an explosion in its engine room, suggesting it was attacked from within rather than by outside attacks.
Conversely, the Russian-installed Kherson government said Ukraine shelled the dam around 2300 GMT, damaging the hydraulic valves.
“On Tuesday, June 6, Ukrainian forces hit the hydroelectric dam, damaging the upper part of the hydraulic structure,” the statement said.
Other Russian-installed officials said no attack took place.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian installed official in Zaporizhzhia, said the dam collapsed due to previous damage and the pressure of the water.
The Russian state news agency TASS released a report to the same effect.
What is the human impact?
With water levels rising, many thousands of people are likely to be affected and civilian evacuations have begun on both sides of the frontline.
Environmental safety expert Maksym Soroka warned that the potential damage the flood could cause is ‘easy to compare’ [an] atomic bomb explosion’, considering the devastation that could result if the dam is completely breached.
The World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development – a Ukrainian non-governmental organization – estimated that a total of nearly 100 towns and cities would be flooded.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said up to 80 settlements were at risk of flooding, while Russian-installed officials said some 22,000 people living in 14 settlements in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region were at risk.
Meanwhile, Russian-backed members of the peninsula said on Tuesday there is a risk that water levels in the North Crimean Canal, which carries fresh water from the Dnieper River to the peninsula, could fall following the dam’s rupture.
The Crimean peninsula depends on fresh water from the channel. Ukraine previously blocked water supply to Crimea after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014, causing water shortages in the region.
A slew of videos and images circulating on social media revealed the extent of catastrophic flooding just hours after the dam was attacked.
A house was seen drifting amid the flood and huge areas of the countryside and villages near Kherson were flooded.
A Russian-installed local mayor warned that water levels would continue to rise for another 72 hours, claiming he expected 40-foot floods in some places.
Kherson is seen underwater after the Kakhovka Dam was damaged by a series of explosions
A drone camera showed the extent of the flood – water pouring over the top of the damaged dam
Is there a risk of a nuclear disaster?
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, draws its cooling water from the reservoir. It is located on the south side, now under Russian control.
The explosion at the dam has raised concerns about a possible meltdown of the plant if the reactors cannot be cooled.
The Ukrainian State Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that the destruction of the dam poses a threat to the Zaporizhzhia plant, but the situation at the plant is currently under control as the reservoir is still able to provide adequate cooling.
“Water from the Kakhovka reservoir is needed to power the station for turbine capacitors and safety systems of the ZNPP,” Energoatom said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
“At the moment, the station’s cooling pond is full: from 08:00 the water level is at 16.6 meters, which is sufficient for the station’s needs.”
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Twitter that they are closely monitoring the situation, but that there was “no immediate nuclear safety risk at (the) plant.”
“Currently, the situation at the ZNPP is under control, Ukrainian personnel are monitoring all indicators,” it said.
Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom said on Tuesday there was no threat to the Moscow-controlled nuclear power plant.