The explosion of the Russian-controlled dam in Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine, has had serious consequences for both people and the environment. The dam and hydroelectric power plant were destroyed, releasing a huge wave of water and raising concerns about the possibility of large-scale flooding in the area downstream of the Dnieper River. Ukrainian and Russian authorities urged local communities near the Nova Kakhovka Dam to evacuate immediately.
It is not entirely clear what exactly destroyed the dam, but based on images transmitted from the scene, it appears that the explosion destroyed much of the structure. Official sources from both sides of the conflict have accused each other of blowing up the dam, though conflicting reports have been coming from Moscow.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused "Russian terrorists" of destroying the dam, stressing that the event proves to the whole world that they should be expelled from every corner of Ukraine. The head of Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, described the alleged action as "ecocide" from the word genocide meaning genocide.
It has already been established that as a result of the explosion, at least 150 tons of engine oil got into the Dnieper River, and there is a risk of further leakage of more than 300 tons of this material. Officials warn that there could be serious ecological impacts, including the possible destruction of some settlements and ecosystems, as well as denying people in southern Kherson and Crimea access to drinking water.
The dam supplied water to large areas of south-eastern Ukraine, as well as to the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula. The Russian government of Crimea has warned that water levels in the North Crimean Canal, which supplies fresh water to the peninsula from the Dnieper River, could fall as a result of the dam's failure. There are also concerns that there will be no water to cool the reactors of the nearby nuclear power plant, which in the long run may cause an even greater ecological crisis.
As for the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, it is the largest of its kind in Europe and used water from the dam reservoir to cool its six reactors, as well as to cool spent fuel and emergency diesel generators, which had to be used repeatedly when the external power failed . However, both the Ukrainian nuclear energy agency Energoatom and the Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom assured that the situation was under control and there was no threat to the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said the power plant should have enough water to cool the reactors for "several months" in a storage tank located nearby.
On the other hand, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused Ukraine of blowing up the dam as part of a plan to redeploy units from the nearby Kherson region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the incident was "deliberate sabotage by Ukraine".
The dam, 30 meters high and 3.2 kilometers long, built in 1956 on the Dnieper River as part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, supplied water to a large part of south-eastern Ukraine, as well as to the peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia. It is still an unsolved mystery why the water level in the reservoir was constantly raised by the Ukrainians who control the sluices there. This constitutes some circumstantial evidence regarding the real culprits of this catastrophe, but in Poland it is officially allowed to agree only with the Ukrainian propaganda, which invariably claims that the Russians are behind this act of terrorism, who themselves flooded their soldiers in the trenches, caused flooding in the areas under their control and deprived them of drinking water Crimea.
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