Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam collapse triggers emergency evacuation in war-torn villages
Europe, News June 7, 2023 1 Comment on Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam collapse triggers emergency evacuation in war-torn villagesA wall of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine’s Dnipro River collapsed on June 6, 2023, triggering floods and threatening the drinking water supply for several cities. Kyiv and Moscow are blaming each other for the collapse.
Hundreds of people have started self-evacuation from the villages surrounding the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station after a major hole in its wall endangered the surrounding area. The dam sits on the Dnipro River, which is currently separating Russian and Ukraine forces in southern Ukraine.
Neither of the two warring sides is ready to take the blame for the destruction of the dam. Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam while Moscow officials blamed Ukrainian bombardment in the contested area. It was not possible to verify the claims from both sides as no concrete evidence has been presented so far.
The flooding of Kakhovka dam unleashed a catastrophe not only for 16,000 people, but also animals.
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 6, 2023
Here, volunteers save a dog from drowning somewhere in the flooded areas pic.twitter.com/dVBBXDOj2w
The Geneva Convention explicitly bans targeting dams during a war because of the danger it poses to civilians. Destructions of dams have potentially far-reaching environmental and social consequences. The small town of Oleshky has been completely flooded as a result of the water leakage from the dam while the Kazkova Dibrova Zoo lost all 300 animals as a result of the flooding.
The Nova Kakhovka dam provides water supply to a wide area of southern Ukrainian farmland, including the Crimean peninsula. The dam also provides a water supply for the cooling of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, which is currently held by Russian forces.
The U.N. nuclear watchdogs have said that the Zaporizhzhia power plant should have enough water to cool its reactors for “some months” from a separate pond, even if the huge reservoir drains out.
It was not immediately clear whether either side would benefit from the damage to the dam since both Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-held lands are at risk. Some Russian officials have claimed that the dam broke on its own due to the lack of maintenance during the war. However, Kyiv officials say that Russia blew up the dam to hinder the counteroffensive.
Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities brought in trains and buses for residents to evacuate from the flood-affected areas. About 22,000 people live in areas at risk of flooding in Russian-controlled areas, while 16,000 live in the most critical zone in Ukrainian-held territory. No death or injuries have been reported as a result of the flooding so far.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at least tens of thousands of people are living in about 80 towns and villages that are affected by the floods.
Zelenskyy blamed the Russian forces for destroying the dam. “The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the dam’s destruction “an outrageous act, which demonstrates once again the brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine” while the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations had no independent information on how the dam was breached, describing it as “another devastating consequence” of Russia’s invasion.
⚡️⚡️The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station no longer exists. pic.twitter.com/6KhkBZOnZi
— 🇺🇦Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) June 6, 2023
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