The Russians blew up the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station.

Undermining the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station will have almost no effect on the Crimea

Back in April 2014, the water supply to the Crimea through the North Crimean Canal was stopped. In 2022, the Russians resumed these supplies, but the water flowed through the unprepared day of the canal, had a high level of turbidity, and it was impossible to use it for domestic needs, said Evgeny Khlobistov, professor of the Department of Ecology at the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, an expert of the Crimean Tatar resource center on Radio NV.

It was used only for the needs of agriculture – for splicing. But because of its mechanical condition, it was very difficult to do it.

And for household needs in the Crimea, they continue to use water that accumulates in reservoirs, which are filled naturally due to precipitation. Plus part of the Crimea uses underground water supply.

Impact on ZNPP

So far, ZNPP is not in danger, explained Alexander Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center. The cooling pools are full, with even more water than usual. But in the summer, the water evaporates, so now there are 4-5 weeks to decide how to fill them further, the expert says.

Technically, this is possible – after the water level has settled, a pipe can be laid in the Dnieper, through which water can be pumped into the pools with pumps. This would be easy to do in peacetime, but now the Zaporizhzhya NPP is occupied by the Russians, and Ukraine has no physical access to all protected shores. In addition, shelling continues.

Impact on energy supply

Since the occupation, the hydroelectric power station has not supplied electricity either to the territories free from Russians or to the occupied ones. Therefore, the accident at the hydroelectric power station now does not affect the amount of electricity in Ukraine.

Scale of destruction

It will be understood tomorrow, Kharchenko says, when the water level settles. But it is already clear that cities and enterprises located on the banks of the Kakhovka reservoir may be left without water. These are Nikopol, Krivoy Rog, Marganets and other settlements. The water level will drop and it will be impossible to fill the water intakes of Nikopol and Krivoy Rog, Kharchenko says. And this is a threat to hundreds of thousands of people.

What will happen to the harvest?

In the settlements that are now under water, most of them grew vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes. In one season, farmers received two harvests: early in late spring – early summer, and the second in autumn, after planting in June – July. That is, because of the explosion, Ukraine lost both the first and the second harvest, Alexander Sinyuk, a representative of the public organization Land of Tavria, which works with local farmers, tells Babel.

But the grain was not affected – for the most part it is grown away from the riverbed, he adds.

Ukrhydroenergo says that in four days the water from the reservoir should drain. Then, perhaps, the sands of the left bank of Kherson will absorb it, and the ten-kilometer zone around the riverbed will be restored. Then next summer it will be possible to plant vegetables. But those settlements that are located directly near the Dnieper, and the crops that were harvested there, can be lost for years.

Farms on the left bank, which is now occupied, will suffer the most. There, water flooded greenhouses, farmland, household plots. Even when the water level drops, the water table remains high. That is, this land will be unsuitable for growing vegetables. On the right bank, everything is more optimistic.

How the accident will affect the military operations

Water has a very large destructive power. Therefore, the system of engineering barriers, fortifications of the invaders near the riverbed of the Dnieper was flooded. But as an active military engineer, who is now at the front, explains to Babel, it is too early to say how destroyed they are. This needs to be seen and studied, and the Ukrainian military does not have such an opportunity.

Minefields are washed away with water, and this is very dangerous. Explosive and non-explosive obstacles move, become covered with silt, so that after de-occupation it will be difficult to find and clear them.

The destruction of any dam or dam complicates the maneuvers of troops, so this undermining is no exception. But as the commander of the Ukrainian Joint Forces, Sergei Naev, said, flooding as a result of the explosion of the hydroelectric power station will not interfere with the offensive of the Ukrainian military.