The destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP creates an ecological and economic disaster in the region and makes navigation on the Dnieper impossible

On the night of June 6, the Russian occupiers blew up the machine room of the Kakhovskaya HPP, which led to the destruction of 11 of the 28 spans or 170 m of the dam. Ukrhydroenergo reports that the HPP is completely destroyed and cannot be restored. This will lead to catastrophic ecological, economic and man-made losses, therefore, according to the Geneva Convention, it is a war crime and equates to the use of weapons of mass destruction, such as blowing up a nuclear power plant or an atomic bomb.

In 4 days, all the water will flow out of the reservoir, the Kinbursk spit will be almost flooded, there will be a threat of supplying water for cooling the reactors of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, the supply of water to the Crimea, irrigation systems for fields in the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhia regions will stop, and mainly in the occupied territories. Many towns and villages, including occupied Berdyansk, will remain without drinking water from the Kakhovsky Canal. The large metallurgical enterprises of Marganets, Nikopol, and Pokrovy will stop, a large number of fish, birds and animals will die, the drained lands will become swampy again, and the climate in the region will change greatly.

A new desert will form in the area of the reservoir with the corresponding climatic consequences: dust storms, a decrease in precipitation, increased heat and risks of increased drought in the fields of central and southern Ukraine.

Due to the draining and desertification of the fields and the shutdown of many large enterprises, the population will leave the region en masse.

We can only hope for the Defense Forces to liberate Nova Kakhovka as soon as possible, and for Western partners to help restore the HPP.

Navigation on the Dnieper will be impossible in the coming years, as roads, bridges, moorings and protective dams are destroyed and flooded in the lower reaches of the river. The work of the ports in Nikopol, Kamianets-Dniprovska and Energodar will stop for a long time, and the railway connection between Zaporizhzhia and the Dnipro with Crimea, Kryvyi Rih and Donbas will be blurred and destroyed.

The elevator facilities located on the banks of the Dnieper and its tributaries were also destroyed, in particular the "Kozatska" branch of the "Nibulon" enterprise.

Ukrhydroenergo announced that after the de-occupation of the Kherson region, a new, much more powerful station will be built on the site of the washed-out hydroelectric structures of the Kakhovskaya HPP. This will require from $800 million to $1 billion. In addition to the station, it will be necessary to build the currently destroyed bridge and railway crossings. If you work 24/7, it will take 5 years to recover. Builders from Italy and Turkey have already offered their help to Ukrenergo.

Now experts are discussing how to quickly block the dam after de-occupation and supply water from the upper reservoirs of the Dnieper Cascade to provide water to the regions that will now suffer from its lack. New wells will be drilled in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, from which fresh water will be extracted. A water main will be built to transfer water from the Dnieper Cascade to Kryvyi Rih.

Such decisions were adopted at the meetings of the National Security Council and the State Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergency Situations.