Water rushing through the gates of the Kakhovka HPP. Screenshot from video shared by Zelenskyy's head of office Andriy Yermak
Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up the dam at Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station, putting 16,000 people at risk of flooding and endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
The news was reported by Operational Command South of Ukraine’s Army: “The Russian occupation forces have detonated the Kakhovka HPP dam. The scale of the damage, speed, and volume of water, and potential flooding areas are currently being clarified. All services are operating. The situation is being monitored.”
Head of the Kherson Oblast Administration Oleksandr Prokudin informed that the Russians blew up the dam in a video shared on 6:45, and stated that water levels will reach maximum levels in five hours.
The Kherson Oblast State Administration reported that units of the National Police and the State Emergency Service of the Kherson Oblast were alerted for notification and evacuation of civilians from potential flood zones on the right bank of the Dnipro River, specifically in the villages of Mykolaivka, Olhivka, Liovo, Tyhinka, Ponyativka, Ivanivka, Tokarivka, Ponyativka, Pridniprovsk, Sadove, and parts of Kherson city – Korabel Island.
As of 7:30, the Administration reported that these regions were partially or fully flooded, and indicated that 16,000 people were at risk. Kherson Oblast residents are being evacuated to Kherson, then to Mykolaiv, and from there to Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Kyiv and others.
Roman Mrochko, head of the Kherson city military administration, indicated that power supply in the Korabel neighborhood in Kherson has been cut off due to the flooding caused by the dam’s detonation. Gas supply will be turned off within a few hours for safety reasons.
Nataliia Humeniuk, the head of the United Coordination Press Center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, stated that the Russian forces had detonated the Kakhovka HPS dam in an attempt to play another card of technogenic blackmail to put pressure on Ukraine.
According to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to hold an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in connection with the explosion of the Kakhovka dam.
According to Energoatom, the Russians’ detonation of the Kakhovka HPP may have negative consequences for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), but the situation is under control.
“Water from the Kakhovka reservoir is necessary for the plant to receive feed for turbine condensers and ZNPP safety systems. The cooling pond is now full: as of 8:00 am, the water level is 16.6 meters, which is sufficient for the needs of the plant.”
Energoatom is monitoring the situation and following the actions of the Russians at ZNPP together with other international organizations present at the plant, in particular, the IAEA,” the statement said.
Ukraine warned about Russia mining the dam since October 2022
On 20 October 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech to the European Council that Ukraine had information about Russians mining the dam and units at the Kakhovka HPP, and the occupiers had already “prepared everything” for this terrorist attack.
Around those days, the Institute for Study of War reported that Russia was setting information conditions to conduct a false-flag attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant to cover the retreat of Russian forces from the right bank of the Dnipro River and prevent or delay Ukrainian advances across the river. Russian General Surovikin, leading the war in Ukraine, and Russian authorities in Kherson Oblast, suggested Kyiv plans to attack the local dam, causing catastrophic floods, which likely served as a pretext to accuse Ukraine of such attacks.
The ISW also supposed on 21 October that Russian troops, which were at the time retreating from the west of Kherson Oblast amid Ukraine’s offensive on the region, “will likely attempt” to blow up the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant to “cover their withdrawal and to prevent Ukrainian forces from pursuing Russian forces deeper into Kherson Oblast.”
That day, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that Russia’s possible terrorist attack at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant would lead to numerous casualties and destroy the possibility of supplying water from the Dnipro River to Crimea for many years.
On 21 October, Natalia Humeniuk, spokeswoman Operational Command South, said that the fact that the Kakhovka HPP was mined by the Russian occupiers was known, and that the Russians were leaving the possibility of blowing it up as a “last resort.”
Tags: Kakhovka HPP