Ukraine accuses Russia of destroying major dam and hydro power station

Ukraine on Tuesday (June 6) accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydropower station in Nova Kakhovka, a part of southern Ukraine Russia controls, sending water gushing from the breached facility and threatening massive flooding and what officials called an ecological disaster. Ukrainian authorities ordered hundreds of thousands of residents downstream to evacuate.

Refuting the charges, Russian officials said that Ukrainian military strikes in the contested area damaged the Kakhovka dam.

The fallout could have broad consequences: Flooding homes, streets and businesses downstream; depleting water levels upstream that help cool Europe’s largest nuclear power plant; and draining supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed.

The breach in dam has added a complex new element to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, now in its 16th month, as Ukrainian forces were widely seen to be moving forward with a long-anticipated counteroffensive in patches along more than 1,000 km of frontline in the east and south of Ukraine. Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said in a Telegram statement that the blowing up of the dam could have negative consequences for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which is Europe’s biggest. But Energoatom also assured that for now the situation is controllable.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency wrote on Twitter that its experts were closely monitoring the situation at the plant and there was “no immediate nuclear safety risk”.

According to the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Working Group, an organisation of environmental activists and experts documenting the war’s environmental effects, a total collapse in the dam would wash away much of the left bank, leading to a severe drop in the reservoir, which has the potential to deprive the nuclear plant of crucial cooling. It would also dry up the water supply in northern Crimea.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that a global ecological disaster is playing out now and thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours. Videos posted online began testifying to the spillover: One showed floodwaters inundating a long roadway, while another showed a beaver scurrying for high ground from rising waters.

Also Read: G7 urges China to press Russia to end Ukraine war, respect Taiwan’s status, fair trade rules

Zelenskyy called an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis, Ukrainian officials said.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry called for residents of 10 villages on the right bank of the river and parts of the city of Kherson downstream to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances, and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation.

Vladimir Leontyev, the Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, said that the strikes were a very serious terrorist act. Moscow-appointed authorities are preparing for the worst consequences, though stopping short of urging an evacuation of city residents.

Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnipro, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the entire country’s drinking water and power supply.

Footage from what appeared to be a monitoring camera overlooking the dam that was circulating on social media showed a flash, explosion and breakage of the dam.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in a video posted on Telegram shortly before 7 am that the Russian Army has committed yet another act of terror, warning that water will reach critical levels within five hours.

According to Ukrhydroenergo, Ukraine’s state hydropower generating company, said in a statement that the Kakhovka dam was completely destroyed. The power station cannot be restored, read the statement. Ukrhydroenergo also claimed that Russia blew up the station from inside the engine room.

Mayor Leontyev said on Tuesday (June 6) that numerous strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant destroyed its valves and water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably flow downstream. Leontyev added that damage to the station was beyond repair and it would have to be rebuilt.

Also Read: The Ukraine war, one year on: Escalation, not stalemate

Energoatom said that the Kakhovka reservoir, where water levels are rapidly decreasing, is necessary for the plant to feed the turbine condensers and ZNPP safety systems of the nuclear plant. “Currently, the station cooling pond is full: as of 8 am, the water level is at 16.6 m, and this is enough for the needs of the station,” Energoatom said.

Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of targeting the dam. Last October, Zelenskyy predicted that Russia would destroy the dam in order to cause a flood. Authorities, experts and residents have for months expressed concerns about water flows through and over the Kakhovka dam.

In February, water levels were so low that many feared a meltdown at the nuclear plant, whose cooling systems received water from the Kakhovka reservoir. By mid-May, after heavy rains and snow melt, water levels rose beyond normal levels, flooding nearby villages. Satellite images showed water washing over damaged sluice gates.

Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnipro River, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the entire country’s drinking water and power supply. The Kakhovka dam, the one furthest downstream, is controlled by Russian forces.

(With agency inputs)