A day after the explosion that destroyed the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine, the situation in the south of the country was a devastating scenario on Wednesday with thousands of civilians evacuated, animals killed, minefields flooded and 100,<> agricultural hectares under water.
The Ukrainian authorities were working on Wednesday at full speed to alleviate the effects of the overflow of the dam that overflowed early Tuesday morning by an allegedly premeditated explosion of which Kiev accuses Russia and vice versa.
The explosion of the dam affects both parties because on the one hand it supplies water to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and would also have caused casualties among the Russian soldiers guarding the reservoir, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But the main victim of this disaster is Ukraine.
The flooding of the Dnipier River and its shores complicates the crossing of that flow to the Ukrainian troops, ready for weeks, for an expected counteroffensive.
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Russia would be the logical culprit because by causing a flood from Nova Kakhovka it complicates the crossing for the Ukrainians, gains time and can focus on other points on the front," British historian Sergei Radchencko said on Twitter.
"I see virtually nothing near or far that benefits Ukraine. it is one more destroyed infrastructure, a new tool of electricity production razed, more suffering for Ukrainian civilians and a limitation of Ukrainian offensive and logistical options," added Stéphane Audrand, a French consultant.
Experts consulted by The New York Times believe – cautiously – that the dam was destroyed with an internal explosion.
But then there's the long list of damages Ukraine has been suffering since Tuesday. This is a balance that the Ukrainian government made in the last hours on the effects of destruction of the dam.
More than 2,700 evacuees
According to the Ukrainian government, more than 1,450 people have so far been evacuated from the areas most affected by the resulting flooding from the western bank of the Dnieper River, where the dam was located and which splits the Ukrainian province of Kherson in two.
On the left bank, occupied by Russia, Russian media speak of 1,300 evacuees so far.
One hundred thousand hectares flooded
On the side of the river under the control of the Kiev government, water from the dam has already flooded some 100,000 hectares of agricultural land, according to data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture, which has warned of the consequences for food security that this could have for one of the most productive regions in Europe.
In addition, the destruction of the dam makes it impossible to operate at least 31 irrigation systems not only in Kherson province, but also in the surrounding regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia. These systems allowed more than half a million hectares to be irrigated.
On the side of the river under the control of the Kiev government, water from the dam has already flooded some 100,000 hectares of agricultural land. Photo: AP
Damage to the electrical system
Some 20,000 subscribers to Ukraine's electricity system have been left without power in Ukraine's southern territories controlled by Kiev after the torrent of water released by the dam rupture flooded 129 electrical substations, according to the Ukrainian Energy Ministry.
The disaster, described by the Ukrainian authorities as "ecocide", has also had an impact on the piping and distribution system. Six water purification facilities were flooded, according to the municipal authorities of the city of Kherson.
Underwater streets in Kherson, Ukraine. Photo: AP
Risk to water supply
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, "hundreds of thousands of people have been left without normal access to drinking water."
Faced with this situation, the Ukrainian government has urgently approved a budget item to build pipelines that bring drinking water to the regions that used the dam for its supply in the south of the country.
Satellite image of the destroyed dam. Photo: AP
Thousands of dead animals
In Russian-occupied Kherson National Park, thousands of animals have died as a result of the flood caused by the overflow of the dam, said the mayor imposed by Russia in the town of New Kakhovka.
In the park, of more than 80,000 hectares, lived specimens of more than 70 rare species.
Ukrainian NGOs have reported the death of all animals at the New Kakhovka Zoo and many pets on both banks of the Dnieper River.
Tons of motor oil
The Ukrainian presidential office has released a video showing a multitude of dead fish, presumably as a result of the spillage of motor oil stored in the engine room of the hydroelectric power plant.
Kiev denounced the spillage into the Dnieper River and the Black Sea, into which it flows, of at least 150 tons of hydraulic oil, as a result of an explosion that, according to the Ukrainian authorities, could only have occurred from inside the engine room of the plant.
Millions of euros in losses
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy, building a new hydroelectric plant after the irreparable damage suffered by the one that operated until now in the area would cost around 1,000 million dollars (more than 930 million euros).
The Ministry estimates the damage caused by the loss of water resources caused by the disaster at about 50 million euros. EFE
Minefields
The Russian governor of the annexed Ukrainian region of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, warned that the water released by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam flooded the minefields installed by Russian troops.
Russian troops laid these mines when they decided to retreat in November 2022 south of the Dnieper River, which bisects the Kherson region.
In recent weeks the Ukrainian military had been dedicated to demining the area to launch its counteroffensive, according to international media.
Now, after the dam burst, Governor Saldo admitted that "from the military point of view, the operational and tactical situation has become favorable to the Russian forces."
He assured that it will be "impossible to cross" now the Kakhovka reservoir, of whose blowing both sides accuse each other.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that the disaster at the hydroelectric plant "will not stop Ukraine and Ukrainians."
Clarín editorial office with information from EFE and AFP
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